''Intus'' was a traditional pre-colonial Filipino

alcoholic drink Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

from the

Visayas Islands The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands ( Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the arch ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

. It was made by boiling sugarcane juice until it reduces to a thick syrup. It was then allowed to cool and mixed with the bark of the ''kabarawan'' tree ('' Neolitsea villosa'') and fermented. The word ''intus'' (or ''initus'') means " reduced" or "liquid thickened by boiling", from the Old Visayan

verb A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...

''itus'' ("to reduce"). Like the '' kabarawan'' drink, ''intus'' is extinct. The tradition was lost during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. Among the Lumad people of Mindanao, ''intus'' was flavored with ''langkawas'' ('' Alpinia galanga'') or ''pal-la'' ('' Cordyline fruticosa'') roots.

References

Fermented drinks Philippine alcoholic drinks {{Philippines-cuisine-stub

See also

References