Mauby: The Most Refreshing Drink in the Caribbean

Thank God for a little Mauby. It was a hot today and I felt as if I would burn up in my car while driving around doing some errands before going home. By the time I arrived at home I was dead tired from the heat. But reflecting on all of this had me thinking what I would have liked to drink in the hot sun, and I had just the thing in mind…..A nice tall glass of beastly cold Mauby; frothy and sweet to the bitter end.

Mauby is a popular Caribbean drink. Interestingly, it is spelt differently: mabi or mavi in some of the islands of the Caribbean. Traditionally, it was fermented before consumed. Now, it is a commercial soft drink. In Trinidad, it is sold as mauby fizz, by PepsiCo. It is not fermented. It is also available pre-made as a syrup and water is just added to it. This one hardly has the sight aftertaste.

However, it is the mauby made from the bark that is the best. Where do you get it? Mauby bark (colubrina arborescens) is sold at the market or supermarket in packs. At the market there are vendors that specialize in spices and related products; you could get all sorts of spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise, linseed, sea moss, processed sea moss and in some cases even bois bande bark, but that's another story 🙂

The mauby packs usually contain a mixture of spices that go well with the mauby bark when making this delicious drink. In the pack you get clove, aniseed, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, star anise and, of course, mauby bark. As I said, it is also sold as a concentrate, just add water, but in my opinion nothing beats a good glass of homemade mauby. That is why I decided to show you all how we make it. Of course, I encourage you to try your own mix of spices with the mauby bark, who knows, maybe someone will come up with a recipe for a new drink ! :^)

There are a number of claims for drinking this sweet-after-bitter taste. I've heard that it is a great cooler, cleanser for the blood. Other claims are that it can lower blood pressure, and help relieve arthritis. So maybe that might encourage you to try this unusual drink, it will take just a bit getting used to the taste if you are tasting this for the first time.

MAUBY

Ingredients:

2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
5 pieces of mauby bark
10 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon aniseed

Direction:

Boil ingredients in 3 cups of water for about 20 minutes and leave to cool.

When cooled pour the concentrate into a larger pot or bowl. Add about 10 cups of water and sweeten to taste ( I used 2 cups of brown sugar. Strain the liquid, place in a mug or bottle and refrigerate.

Maubysweet to the bitter end

Well that's it for another post. I hope tomorrow will not be as hot as today. Until then, bye !

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Mauby

Course Drink
Cuisine Caribbean, creole
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 13
Author Felix (Simply Trini Cooking)

Ingredients

  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 star anise
  • 5 pieces of mauby bark
  • 10 cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp. aniseed
  • 3 cups water to boil above ingredients
  • 10 cups water
  • sugar to taste

Instructions

  • Boil ingredients in 3 cups of water for about 20 mins and leave to cool
  • Pour the concentrate into a larger pot or bowl, add about 10 cups of water, and sweeten.
  • Strain the mauby and place in a mug or bottle. Refrigerate.

14 thoughts on “Mauby: The Most Refreshing Drink in the Caribbean”

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  2. 5 pieces. What is the weight. Please let me know. This is the problem with some recipies. Please also put the weight. I have a whole package of crumbled pieces.

    Thanks.

  3. This is a good base mauby recipe – I added citrus peels (orange and lime) while boiling the concentrate and then a bit of honey while mixing in the sugar and water.

    The blog is right – you can add all kinds of stuff to the mix and just keep experimenting until you find what you like.

    1. Eugenie Williams

      Thank you for the recipe I sure will be making this tomorrow, I love murby but I buy the concentrated one but also have the bark I just didn’t know how to set it up.

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