Bwason-péyi — refreshing drinks of the land
Mabi, Bark Drink
DrinkEvocation☕ 🫙 🍯moyen30 min (+ 12 to 24 h fermentation)
Slightly sparkling and bitter drink, infused with mabi bark and ginger, sweetened with cane syrup and left to ferment overnight. Refreshing and tonifying.
Why this dish? Mabi, a fermented bark drink sweetened with cane, quenched the thirst of Martinicans during hot hours at markets and meetings. A popular, non-festive drink of Césaire's country, it accompanies the daily life that he made the substance of his poetry.
When the sun beats down on Fort-de-France and your throat burns, it is not always rum you need, but mabi. We infuse the bitter bark, add a little ginger, sweeten with cane syrup, and let the drink work all night until it sparkles a little. It is harsh, yes — but this bitterness, you see, is the one that wakes you up and keeps a man standing at work.
Ingredients
- •Mabi bark — a handful (bitterness and ferment)
- •Fresh ginger — a piece (spicy note)
- •Cane syrup — to taste (sweetness)
- •Water — a large container (base)
How it was made : Mabi, widespread throughout the Caribbean, gets its bitterness from the bark of a shrub (often mauby/Colubrina) and its light sparkle from wild fermentation. A market drink sold by 'mabiyé', it was prepared in large earthenware jars and drunk before the era of industrial sodas.