Mauby: A Caribbean Drink

The slightly bitter drink from the mauby bark is popular in many Caribbean countries. Many Caribbean people reach for a cold glass of mauby instead of orange juice or citrus fruit punch. For generations, traditional folk medicine practitioners and grandparents have advised about the health benefits of mauby, which has specific properties for men.

The slightly bitter drink from the mauby bark is popular in many Caribbean countries. Many Caribbean people reach for a cold glass of mauby instead of orange juice or citrus fruit punch. For generations, traditional folk medicine practitioners and grandparents have advised about the health benefits of mauby, which has specific properties for men.

Caribbean people generally believe it is a good “cooling” or useful for calming a tense person. Some also believe it is good for arthritis. A new study now supports the belief that mauby might be useful in lowering blood pressure. Trinidad-born Kwame Amin, a student at The City University of New York’s Borough of Manhattan Community College, conducted the study whose findings were consistent with another that examined hypertensive patients. A distinct lowering of the pulse rate was observed in patients using Mauby. Mr Amin’s work won first prize for Biomedical Research for Minority Students in the U.S.

Mauby drink is made from the bark, and sometimes fruit, of the small mauby tree native to the northern Caribbean and south Florida, and is made by boiling a specific buckthorn bark, Colubrina elliptica, with a variety of spices, and brown sugar for sweetening. Though traditionally boiled at home, increasingly, instant mauby syrup is produced commercially, with several brands available in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Mauby does not usually contain alcohol, though you can find a few fermented varieties in some Caribbean islands; so be aware.

Mauby may become a highly demanded drink worldwide when other claims about this drink (that it is good for arthritis, reduces cholesterol, treats diarrhea, and may help fight diabetes) are supported by research.