The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks (49 page)

Colubrina elliptica

rhamnaceae (buckthorn family)

V
isitors to the Caribbean, particularly around Trinidad and Barbados, may have encountered mauby, a strangely sweet and bitter syrup made from the bark of two trees,
Colubrina arborescens
and
C. elliptica.
The recipe varies, but it usually involves mixing the tree bark with sugar, water, and some combination of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, vanilla, citrus peel, bay leaf, star anise, and fennel seed, giving it a spicy licorice kick. Poured into plain or soda water, mauby syrup has traditionally been considered a sort of cure-all. Islanders believe it treats diabetes and works as an appetite stimulant, but the only concrete proof of its health benefits comes from one small study in the
West Indian Medical Journal
that found that it could alleviate high blood pressure.

There are over thirty species of
Colubrina
around the world, all growing in warm-weather regions.
C. elliptica,
the species most widely used to make mauby, is actually native to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but the bark circulates to nearby islands.
C. arborescens
is also used; it is native to Barbados. The wood is incredibly hard; in fact, the name ironwood has been applied to several species. The bark contains tannins and bitter saponins (called, in this case, mabioside) that probably protect the plant from predators. In Florida,
C. arborescens
is also called wild coffee, which suggests that the bark had an early history as a tea or coffee substitute.

In the early twentieth century, “mauby women” carried the homemade brew in tin containers perched on their heads and sold it informally on the streets. Now the syrup is manufactured on a larger scale and sold commercially, and bottled soft drinks like Mauby Fizz are also available. And mauby does, in fact, turn up in Caribbean cocktails, including those made by some of the best tiki bartenders in North America—although none of them will divulge their recipes.

MYRRH

Commiphora myrrha

burseraceae (torchwood family)

M
yrrh is an ugly little tree: scrawny, covered in thorns, and nearly bereft of leaves. It grows in the poor, shallow soils of Somalia and Ethiopia, where it is a gloomy gray figure in a barren landscape. If it weren't for the rich and fragrant resin that drips from the trunk, no one would give it a second look.

Tiny chunks of dried resin, about the size and shape of a raisin, were highly valued as perfume and incense among Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Because tree resin was used to seal drinking vessels, it is easy to see how myrrh and wine came together. Romans offered a myrrh and wine blend during crucifixions; it was presented to Jesus, but he refused it.

Myrrh has a bitter and somewhat medicinal taste. Its essential oil contains compounds also found in pine, eucalyptus, cinnamon, citrus, and cumin. The French distiller Combier lists it as an ingredient in its premium orange liqueur Royal Combier, and it is a common ingredient in vermouth, aromatized wines, and bitters. The makers of Fernet Branca do not bother to hide the fact that it is among their secret ingredients; the powerful and ancient flavor of myrrh helps explain why Fernet packs such a punch.

PINE

Pinus
spp.

pinaceae (pine family)

T
he residue of wine laced with tree resin has been found at archeological sites dating back to the Neolithic period. Perhaps it was used as a preservative or to add a woodsy flavor the way barrel-aging would. It might have also had medicinal uses: tree resin seemed to heal trees, so it stood to reason that drinking tree resin might heal internal ailments. Roman winemakers added a potpourri of strange ingredients to wine, including not only pine resin but also frankincense, myrrh, and an extract from the terebinth tree, from which turpentine was also made.

Even today, it is possible to find a pine-resin-infused wine called retsina in Greece. The Greek winery Gaia Estate makes a retsina called Ritinitis Nobilis that is flavored with an extract of the Aleppo pine
Pinus halepensis.
Fernet Branca is also rumored to contain a touch of pine resin.

But the most interesting pine-based spirit is surely the Alsatian pine liqueur called
bourgeon de sapin.
It might not be to everyone's liking, but it is a rare and unusual historic liqueur that bartenders love to experiment with. (Imagine a boozy, sugary Christmas tree, enjoyed neat in a short glass.) An Austrian version called Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur gets its pale cinnamon hue and floral perfume from the arolla stone pine,
Pinus cembra,
which grows high in the Alps. According to the distiller, the cones are only harvested every five to seven years, and even then, less than a quarter of the cones are picked. The work is done by intrepid mountaineers who trek through the Alps in early July and climb the dense trees to reach the cones precisely when they are at their reddest and most pungent.

SENEGAL GUM TREE