Per a suggestion from my good friend Eneida, Pam and I tried Mavi when we were in San Juan, PR. I asked the waiter at the restaurant if they had it and unfortunately he said no, but he did confirm that it was a local drink and that I could probably find some at one of the restaurants down near the port.
Well, while we did see it elsewhere before getting back on our cruise ship, the stand in this picture is the first place we saw it. Pam didn't like it so much, so as it turned out, I drank hers and mine.
For those out of the know: Mavi is a tree bark-based beverage grown, and widely consumed, in the Caribbean. It is made with sugar and the bark and/or fruit of certain species in the Colubrina genus including Colubrina elliptica (also called behuco indio) and Colubrina arborescens, a small tree native to the northern Caribbean and south Florida. Its taste is initially sweet, somewhat like root beer, but changes to a prolonged, but not astringent bitter aftertaste.
2 comments:
Something we should import? Alcoholic or non? Van looks like he's seriously relaxing into that drink! --David
Mavi is a fermented beverage. Alcoholic, but not enough to get you toasted.
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