🥃 Xtabentún

Xtabentún is a traditional honey-and-anise liqueur of the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico, in the same sweet-anise family as sambuca but made with honey and rum or cane spirit. The bees gather the honey from the flowers of the xtabentún vine (Turbina corymbosa), from which the name comes; in Maya it is translated as “vine growing on stone”. It is drunk as a digestif, neat or with ice.

History. The drink's ancestor is considered balché, a ritual intoxicating drink of the Maya made from balché tree bark, honey and water. According to a common version, the Spanish colonists disliked balché and banned it, and later anise began to replace the bark. Some researchers look for the origins in Valladolid in Yucatán, so the drink is sometimes called “Valladolid liqueur”.

How it is made. The base is honey or honey mead flavoured with anise; rum or cane spirit is added for strength. For this reason xtabentún is sometimes inaccurately called “distilled honey”: the honey is fermented, not distilled, and the distillate in the drink is rum.

Producers. Several companies in Yucatán make the drink. The well-known XTA from Casa D'Aristi was 35% ABV, but according to Difford's Guide it is no longer produced. The xtabentún flower is linked to a Mayan legend about two women, Xtabay and Uc-Kelel.

Why it matters to you. Xtabentún is sweet, so its strength is felt less than it really is. It is often added to coffee, which gives the “Mayan carajillo”, or used in cocktails. The composition and the share of rum depend on the producer, so read the label. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.