The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Great Drinks (24 page)

Oxytenanthera abyssinica
(syn.
O. braunii
)

poaceae (grass family)

A
lso called wine bamboo, this fast-growing member of the grass family is used for fencing, tools, basketry, erosion control—and alcohol. In Tanzania, the young shoots are cut and then bashed twice a day for a week, injuring the plant to encourage the sap to flow. It ferments naturally in as little as five hours. The bamboo wine, called
ulanzi,
is only made during the rainy spring season when the young bamboo is growing. Women make batches of it to sell by the liter in their villages. It is not uncommon for travelers to get a free sample as they walk from one village to the next: the stands of bamboo are left unattended while the sap flows into containers. The temptation to simply help oneself to a drink along the journey is hard to resist.

STRAWBERRY TREE

Arbutus unedo

ericaceae (heath family)

T
he red, rough-skinned fruit of the strawberry tree, perfectly round and about the size of a cherry, is not nearly as tasty as the fruit it is named after. In fact, botanists say that the species name
unedo
comes from the Latin
unum edo,
meaning “I eat one.” Just one.

But distillers—most of them unlicensed and working on equipment that could have come straight from the Middle Ages—turn the fruit into a popular local spirit called
aguardiente de medronho.
Although it is available commercially, it is more commonly shared among families and sold to neighbors, particularly in the Algarve region of southern Portugal.

Rather than bloom in spring, as most fruit-producing trees would, the strawberry tree blooms in fall, at the same time that the previous year's fruit is ripening. In Portugal and Spain, that process begins in September. Pickers gather only the ripest fruit, returning once a month through December to complete the harvest.

Once picked, the fruit is mashed or submerged whole in water and fermented for three months. Then, usually in February, it is boiled over a wood fire and distilled in a copper alembic still, with a pipe running through a barrel of water that serves as the condenser. The result is a high-proof spirit, usually above 45 percent ABV, which is either bottled immediately or aged in oak for six months to a year. In Spain, a sweeter, lower-proof liqueur called
licor de madroño
is made by macerating the fruit in high-proof spirits with sugar and water.

The strawberry tree is a type of madrone, one of fourteen species found throughout Europe and North America. Most madrones are small, beautiful trees with glossy, narrow leaves and a reddish, peeling bark. None of them produce particularly tasty fruit, in spite of the fact that they are relatives of the blueberry, huckleberry, and cranberry.
A. unedo
is nonetheless grown in warm climates around the world as an ornamental. A cultivar called Elfin King is even grown in containers and is considered to produce tastier fruit than most.

TAMARIND

Tamarindus indica

fabaceae (bean family)

T
he tamarind probably originated in Ethiopia and found its way to Asia via ancient trade routes. Today it grows in tropical climates all over the world, most notably in East Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Philippines, in Florida, and throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

The tree reaches up to sixty feet in height, with a canopy of small, feathery leaves that throw off much-needed shade. The fruit is actually a long seedpod with a slightly sweet, slightly tart, edible brown pulp. It is used in curries, pickles, candies, and as a flavoring in Worcestershire sauce, where it might then make an appearance in Bloody Marys or Micheladas, a Mexican drink that combines beer with tomato juice (or Clamato), lime juice, spices, and sauces. Although there are over fifty different cultivars, they are difficult for anyone but a local to tell apart. Tropical plant nurseries mark them simply as “sweet” or “sour” varieties. The sweet variety is eaten raw, but it is actually the sour variety that is used in drinks and for cooking.

Tamarind wine is made removing the dry, outer husk of the seed pod, scooping out the pulp and pressing the juice from it, and then fermenting a mixture of juice, water, and sugar. The wine can be found today in the Philippines, particularly in Batangas, just south of Manila. Tamarind also turns up as a flavoring in liqueurs, like Mauricia Tamarind Liqueur, a rum-based drink from the island of Mauritius south of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Tequila distillers have created
licores de tamarindo
as well. Tamarind paste or syrup, available at specialty food markets, is becoming a popular cocktail mixer, particularly in margaritas, where it hits the same sweet-sour notes that lime juice does.