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Alcoholic drinks from Mindanao

Bais and kabarawan (Philippine honey wines, extinct)

Bais and kabarawan were Philippine honey wines. Bais was honey and water left to ferment, made by the Mandaya and Manobo of north-eastern Mindanao; Visayan kabarawan added the bark of the kabarawan tree. Both are extinct and known only from colonial-era accounts, so the steps here are an outline.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Bais and kabarawan itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Mead (base flow), the closest documented alcoholic drinks ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Bais and kabarawan.

Short entryAlcoholic drinks

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
honey + water (bais)
honey + kabarawan tree bark (kabarawan)

Total time across the steps of Mead (base flow): 13 months – 14 months

Start
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20–30 °C

What changes: Honey dissolves into lukewarm water to make the wort

Step 1 of 8 · steps of Mead (base flow)
Mix honey and water
Time
Not documented
Temperature
20–30 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: honey wort (brzeczka).

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Bais and kabarawan were Philippine honey wines. Bais was honey and water left to ferment, made by the Mandaya and Manobo of north-eastern Mindanao; Visayan kabarawan added the bark of the kabarawan tree. Both are extinct and known only from colonial-era accounts, so the steps here are an outline.

What makes this one different

Philippine indigenous wines are mostly made from palm sap, rice, job's tears or sugarcane. Bais and kabarawan were meads made from honey, one of them mixed with tree bark. Mead was rare, even in precolonial times.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Bais (Mindanao)Honey and water only.
  • Kabarawan (Visayas)Honey with the bark of the kabarawan tree (Neolitsea villosa).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [WP:Philippine wine] Wikipedia, Philippine wine (outline only)wiki
  2. [WP:Bais] Wikipedia, Bais (wine), citing Garvan J.M. 1912 in the Philippine Journal of Science (outline only)wiki