On hot days in Barbados, many locals reach for a glass of a refreshing drink known as “mauby”. Mauby is made from the bark of the mauby, or snakewood, tree (Colubrina elliptica) which is mixed with water, sugar, cinnamon, orange peel, nutmeg, vanilla, star anise and cloves. In the early 1900s, sellers known as “Mauby Women” would walk the streets carrying vessels of homemade mauby on their heads, but today mauby is made commercially and sold as soft drinks or mauby syrups that are mixed with soda water. The taste of mauby is described as being unique with a bitter aftertaste, a little like beer. Many health claims are made for mauby, from cleaning the blood to treating arthritis and giving strength. There is even some evidence that it can…