Marula fruit juice left to ferment into a cloudy, tangy beer. It is brewed in southern Zimbabwe when the marula ripens in late summer, a season marked with feasting and ceremony.
Producing alcohol at home is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, the ferment relies on wild yeasts on the fruit, and the fruit is gathered from wild trees over a few weeks a year.
What goes into it
- ripe marula fruit
- water
How it is made
Marula fruit is gathered as it falls, the skin pierced and the juice squeezed out by hand — the stone is kept for its kernel. The juice sits in a covered vessel for two to four days while wild yeasts on the fruit ferment it, and it is drunk cloudy and tart. It does not keep beyond the season.
How long it takes: two to four days
How it is eaten
From a shared container during the marula season, at feasts and ceremonies.
History
Brewed in southern Zimbabwe when the marula ripens in late summer, a season marked with feasting and ceremony.
Frequently asked questions
What is Mukumbi?
Mukumbi is a wine & spirit from Zimbabwe: marula fruit juice left to ferment into a cloudy, tangy beer. Brewed in southern Zimbabwe when the marula ripens in late summer, a season marked with feasting and ceremony.
How is Mukumbi made?
Marula fruit is gathered as it falls, the skin pierced and the juice squeezed out by hand — the stone is kept for its kernel. The juice sits in a covered vessel for two to four days while wild yeasts on the fruit ferment it, and it is drunk cloudy and tart. It does not keep beyond the season. It takes two to four days.
Can I make Mukumbi at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Producing alcohol at home is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, the ferment relies on wild yeasts on the fruit, and the fruit is gathered from wild trees over a few weeks a year.
What goes into Mukumbi?
Ripe marula fruit, water.
How is Mukumbi eaten?
From a shared container during the marula season, at feasts and ceremonies.
