Mauby facts for kids

Maví bottles from Ponce, Puerto Rico. The bottle on the left has mabí, and the one on the right is empty.

Mauby is a popular drink enjoyed across the Caribbean. People in places like Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Antigua and Barbuda call it Mauby. In the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, it's known as maví or mabí. You might also hear it called mabi in Haiti and Martinique, or maubi in the Virgin Islands.

This special drink is made from the bark and sometimes the fruit of certain trees, mainly from a group called Colubrina. Two common types are Colubrina elliptica and Colubrina arborescens. These trees grow naturally in the northern Caribbean and southern Florida.

To make Mauby, sugar is added to the bark and fruit. People often add other spices too, like aniseed, which gives it a unique flavor. Long ago, Mauby was usually a fermented drink, meaning it was left to sit and change over time. Now, you can mostly buy it as a regular, non-fermented soft drink in stores.

A fruit stand selling mavi at a car show in Puerto Rico.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic are big exporters of the bark and leaves used to make Mauby. Some people still make it at home, sometimes fermenting it using a bit of a previous batch. Others prefer it unfermented. Many people buy Mauby as a pre-made syrup. They then mix it with water, either fizzy or still, to get the taste they like. You can also buy it from local sellers or street vendors.

Mauby has a unique taste. It starts sweet, a bit like root beer. But then, it changes to a slightly bitter taste that lasts for a while. For many, it's a taste you learn to love!

Mauby Drinks You Can Buy

There are several types of Mauby drinks you can find in stores. These are often made by companies and sold as carbonated (fizzy) soft drinks.

Commercial Mabi in the Dominican Republic

A bottle of Mauby Fizzz produced by Pepsi.

In the Dominican Republic, a company called Grupo Taino LLC sells two kinds of mabi. Both of these are made with fizzy water.

• Seybano: This version is lighter in color. It's made from tree bark extract and uses both white and brown sugar.
• Cacheo: This one is darker. It's made from both bark and fruit extract, with added spices and brown sugar. Even though it's called Mabi Cacheo, it doesn't actually contain sap from Cacheo palm trees.

Mauby Fizzz and Hairoun Mauby

Mauby Fizzz is a fizzy version of the drink made in Trinidad and Tobago. It's produced by a big company called PepsiCo. This drink is made from mauby bark and is not fermented.

A similar drink is made in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It's called Hairoun Mauby and is produced by St. Vincent Brewery Limited, which is part of the AmBev company.

See also

In Spanish: Mabí para niños