Mauby (in Trinidad and Tobago,

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, Jamaica,

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, Bermuda, Barbados,

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and Anguilla), also known as ''maví (or mabí)'' in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, ''mabi'' in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and Martinique, and ''maubi'' in the Virgin Islands and Dutch Caribbean islands of St. Eustatius,

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and Saba), is a tree bark-based beverage grown, and widely consumed, in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. It is made with sugar and the bark and/or fruit of certain species in the genus '' Colubrina'' including ''

Colubrina elliptica ''Colubrina elliptica'', also known as mabi or soldierwood, is a species of flowering tree in the family Rhamnaceae, that is native to the Florida Keys, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and Venezuela. It produces fruit the size of pepperco ...

'' (also called ''behuco indio'') and '' Colubrina arborescens'', a small tree native to the northern Caribbean and south Florida. Recipes usually include other ingredients as well, spices such as aniseed being very common. Mauby was traditionally a

fermented beverage This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to alcohol using yeast, but other fermentation processes involv ...

made in small batches, but is now predominantly a commercial non-fermented

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

Fruit stand selling mavi at a car show in Puerto Rico

Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two of the largest Caribbean exporters of the bark and leaves. Often the drink is fermented using a portion of the previous batch, while sometimes it is consumed unfermented. Mauby is often bought as a pre-made syrup and then mixed with water (sparkling or still) to the consumer's taste, but many make it themselves at home or purchase it from neighbourhood producers or street sellers. Its taste is initially sweet, somewhat like root beer, but changes to a prolonged, but not astringent bitter aftertaste. To many, it is an acquired taste, and has been known to cause an initial laxative reaction unexpected to many first-time drinkers.

Commercial soft drinks

: Grupo Taino LLC of the Dominican Republic markets two commercial versions of ''mabi'', both made with carbonated water. ''Seybano'' is lighter in color and made from tree bark extract and white and brown sugar, while ''Cacheo'' is darker and made from both bark and fruit extract, with spices and brown sugar. Contrary to its name, ''Mabi Cacheo'' does not include sap from the Cacheo palms ('' Pseudophoenix ekmanii'' and '' P. vinifera''). ''Mauby Fizzz'' is a commercially produced and carbonated version of the drink produced in Trinidad and Tobago by multinational

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

from mauby bark. It is unfermented. A similar version is also produced in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines called Hairoun Mauby, produced by St. Vincent Brewery Limited, a company in the AmBev portfolio.

References

* * * {{cite web , url=http://slakethirst.com/2006/05/20/making-mauby/ , title=Making Mauby , work=Slakethirst , date=2006-05-20 Fermented drinks Soft drinks Caribbean drinks Barbadian cuisine Trinidad and Tobago cuisine Guyanese cuisine Antigua and Barbuda cuisine