Making Mauby
The mercury was headed straight up last week — peaking at an unseasonably hot 94° F — making it an ideal time to try concocting a homemade batch of mauby. It seems as if every island has its own recipes… I borrowed from several and averaged, to make a sort of pan-Caribbean version. Definitely the wrong way to start out a proper experiment, but some of the ingredients sound too tasty not to use. First, I simmered the following for about 10 minutes:
4-5 pieces mauby bark2 sticks cinnamon (short)
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
2 tsp. dried marjoram
2 pods star anise
3 cloves
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
3 cups water
at the end of which, it had reduced quite a bit. I strained it — saving back the mauby bark — into a 3 gallon carboy, dropping the bark in as well. The mauby bark, incidentally, was $2.50/oz. from a local Caribbean grocery. It’s Bedessee brand. Next, I heated
2 cups white cane sugar
10 cups water
until the sugar dissolved, and allowed it to cool. This was added to the carboy, and shaken well. Finally, I pitched half an expired packet of Lalvin D47 yeast I found in the back of a drawer, figuring it couldn’t hurt, and just might help. Didn’t bother to proof it. To keep the nasties out, and just in case the yeast did decide to kick off an active fermentation, I affixed a waterlock, set it in a warm spot and waited.
It never really developed much of a head… oh, there was a layer of foam on top, and the waterlock was definitely working some, so there was CO2 being produced, but it was nothing like a rolling, active fermentation. I doubt that the D47 had much to do with it. A slight cap persisted for 5 days, at the end of which I decanted it into a pitcher for refrigeration, to halt any further yeast activity.
The verdict: DELICIOUS. Scrumptuously bitter, with lovely herbal and yuletide spice notes. Sweet enough to complement the bitterness — it didn’t even begin to ferment to dryness — without the syrupy heaviness of mauby made from concentrate. It also seems to lack the long, medicinal finish that I noted in the concentrate, but I have a bit of a cold now, so my palate isn’t really on its game. I can see why concentrated mauby is so popular — it’s a fair bit of work for a gallon of beverage — but I much prefer this stuff to R & L brand. Fill a glass with crushed ice, pour in the mauby, dash some Angostura bitters on top and swizzle until well-chilled… then kick back with some Kitch.
I’ve posted about mauby before, and wound up compiling a fair number of informative links in the process. If you’re interested in different recipes, purported health benefits, etc. then see “Mmmm… Mauby!”.
Tags: bitters, Caribbean, enjoy, island, long, mabi, mauby, mavi, Non-alcoholic, nutmeg, rum, spice, Trinidad, tropical
May 20th, 2006 at 7:53 pm PDT (-0700)
My non-sinus-impaired opinion on things: I thought your mauby brew imparted a bitter (but, pleasantly so!) aftertaste similar to that of the storebought concentrate. However, I agree that your home-made concoction was vastly superior. Less cloying and more nuanced. In a word: Nummy!
June 9th, 2006 at 5:14 am PDT (-0700)
Here is a place to buy mauby barks great deal.
http://www.angelbrand.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?
Enjoy!
Alex
June 10th, 2006 at 12:03 am PDT (-0700)
That site looks a bit in the way of broken at the moment, Alex. However, I’ll agree that $10.00 for 1½ lbs isn’t a bad price at all. That’ll make a lot of mauby!
June 10th, 2006 at 12:14 pm PDT (-0700)
I bought the .75 cent .750oz bag, I’m drinking as a type. It taste just like Puerto Rico Mavi.
June 10th, 2006 at 12:39 pm PDT (-0700)
Oh so! Care to share your recipe?
June 10th, 2006 at 1:06 pm PDT (-0700)
Here it is.
1 oz. of fresh ginger
1 stick whole cinnamon
12 ½ cups of water
2 ½ cups of sugar
2 ½ cups of dark brown sugar
½ of Active Dry Wine yeast (they cost around 75¢ a bag on the Internet, do a search on Google. It works really well and speeds up the fermentetion. **When all ingredients except the yeast are completed add the yeast to the mix, following envelope directions for the yeast)
Directions
Boil the Mavi tree bark, the ginger, and the whole cinnamon in 1 ½ cups of water in a cooking pot for 5 minutes.
After the 5 minutes, remove the pot from stove and with a strainer, filter the liquid and let it cool totally. (Like Totally Baby!!)
Mix 12 cups of water, the sugar and the brown sugar in a big deep bowl. Add yeast as per envelope instructions.
Add the mavi liquid and mix well until it starts to foam. This recipe equal to 4 liters. (2 Pepsi bottles)
Pour the mavi into bottles and seal with a plug made out of cloth. Do not plug it too tight or use your underwear to plug it sealed. The fermentation will create pressure just like a pressure cooker effect!
Please note I live in Buffalo, ny and is really not that hot here 65 to 75 and the mavi ferment really well. This recipe is from the Rican website. I just add it the yeast to the mix.
Enjoy!
June 18th, 2007 at 1:09 pm PDT (-0700)
The recipe on my packet of “West Indian Herbs” mauby said, “Add bark [1 oz pkg],2 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick and dried haitian orange peel to one quart of boiling water. Cook 5-10 minutes. Cool, add sugar and allow to ferment overnight. Air to foam. Add three parts water.
Sugar Control: Add fennel seed, no sugar. Do not ferment.
The recipe I am using is on my blog, but it’s not finished yet. I like that you are collecting mavi recipes. There are always new recipes to document.
July 8th, 2007 at 2:09 pm PDT (-0700)
for how long is it fermented?
September 8th, 2007 at 8:45 pm PDT (-0700)
Ramsey: I fermented mine for about 5 days, but as I say, it wasn’t a vigorous ferment to dryness. Just enough to make it a bit effervescent and give it some whang
September 14th, 2007 at 1:35 pm PDT (-0700)
ingredients
6 pieces mauby bark, orange peel,cloves, ginger, anise, bayleaf, rosemary leaves fennel, sugar to taste, 1 gallon water
1 bottle stale mauby drink
place all ingredients and 1 quart water, (except sugar and stale mauby) in a large pot and boil for 30 minutes strain and discard dregs and allow to cool. In a large container add a portion of the brewed mauby,sugar and stale mauby and mix well. Using a dipper beat until it rises add the remainder of the water and sugar if needed. Beat with dipper a few more times. allow to stand in a loosley container over night. bottle the following day and refrigerate. If more fizz is needed allow to stand outside the refrigerator for a few more days.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:32 am PST (-0800)
OK gang, it the middle of the winter. I have this wicked thirst for Mauby right now. Is the weather going to get in the way of the fermentation or do I have to wait until it gets warmer?
SQ
May 9th, 2008 at 12:28 am PDT (-0700)
That is interesting: fennel seed instead of sugar in mauby.
I cannot find out how to use it though - how much fennel seed for example in the recipe given?
Tried the recipe without marjoram and yeast. Yummy!
DA
July 1st, 2008 at 9:36 am PDT (-0700)
¡Hola, mavi aficionados…I have always loved mavi, always bought it ready-made in the plaza. Now to my question: since sugar and yeast + ingredients ferment, how much sugar is really left in the mavi? I am asking because of type II diabetes. Thanks, Cesar.
July 7th, 2008 at 10:14 am PDT (-0700)
Honestly I have never heard of Mauby before. I was surfing the net for a recipe for a summer dfrink and voila! Thank you very much for posting the recipe, it really sounds delicious and I will give it a try. Wish me luck!