Munyon’s Paw Paw: The Magic Elixir of Palm Beach

A man, an island and a magic elixir—the legend of Munyon’s Paw-Paw runs deep into the soil of Palm Beach, where a Northern entrepreneur launched a wellness empire at the dawn of the 20th century. Dr. James M. Munyon was a larger-than-life character who bought and named his own island in the Lake Worth Lagoon estuary, where he opened the Hotel Hygeia in 1904, a winter resort for moneyed snowbirds and a would-be fountain of youth. The area flowed with a “homeopathic remedy” he bottled by fermenting the isle’s abundant papayas—among other ingredients. The potion took its name from the pink-orange fruit, known as “paw-paw” in local Florida parlance—not to be confused with the actual pawpaw, the continent’s largest native edible fruit.

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Here’s how to make a Palm Beach Spritz using Munyon’s Paw Paw

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“They say at the turn of the century, he was more famous than the president of the United States,” says Paul Massey, who, with his partner Joe Colucci, revived Munyon’s Paw-Paw in 2022 and turned it into the premium liqueur it is today. “Unlike all the other medicine —aka snake oil—salesmen from that era, he was front and center in every one of his ads, with his famous salutation, his finger pointed in the air, saying, ‘There is hope!’”

The two Florida liquor industry veterans had spent decades working for major brands and wanted to launch their own. Inspiration for the venture came after Colucci found a historical Munyon display inside the visitor center at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park, which includes Munyon Island and the site of the hotel, which burned down in 1917. “I called Paul, and we were off to the races,” Colucci says. “We went down a rabbit hole from there.”

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We knew there was papaya, but to the surprise of all of us, Ned called up after he ran all the tests on it and goes, ‘There was THC in this product as well.’
—Paul Massey

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As part of their quest to reinvent the brand, Massey and Colucci became Munyon scholars, which led them to the foremost expert on the man: Ned D. Heindel, the late Pennsylvania research chemist whose 2021 biography “Medicine, Music and ‘Money’ Munyon” captured the life and times of a character he called “America’s most colorful medical huckster.” They had Heindel analyze a sample from one of three original unopened bottles they owned, hoping to uncover the good doctor’s secret sauce. And, indeed, they did. “Munyon was prescribing this to anyone that was five or older,” Massey says. “We knew there was papaya, but to the surprise of all of us, Ned called up after he ran all the tests on it and goes, ‘There was THC in this product as well.’”

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Mix mezcal and Munyon’s to get this Florida Smoke Show cocktail

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Today’s customers need not expect any undisclosed mood-altering substances. There’s 20% alcohol in each bottle, and the complete ingredient list for the current version of the “all-natural aperitif” appears online. The list of 14 ingredients includes papaya, of course, as well as pink grapefruit, Florida orange, cane sugar, anise, elderflower and hibiscus. “You can enjoy it neat or on the rocks, but it marries with pretty much any spirit out there,” Massey says. Margaritas. Old Fashioneds. Spritzes. The aperitif comes in a 750ml bottle suitable for old-timey medicinal purposes, but it’s crafted at Miami’s Big Cypress Distillery. 

The flavor is gentle on the tongue, neither too bitter nor too sweet, with a tropical panache that appeals to American palates. Says Colucci, “It’s like if Grand Marnier and Aperol had a baby.”

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