Tumunu (Atiu Cook Islands Bush Beer)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3-gallon food-safe fermenting bucket with lid and airlock, or clean cloth cover
• •Long sanitized stirring spoon
• •Fine strainer or clean brewing cloth

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the vessel

   Wash and sanitize a 3-gallon food-safe fermenting bucket, lid, spoon, strainer, and any cups or bottles you will use. Atiu's old stump belongs to Atiu, so in a home kitchen we use clean gear and good sense. No airtight glass jar for active fermentation, yeah? Pressure can build and break it.

2. 2

   Make the fruit base

   Zest 4 of the oranges in wide strips, avoiding the bitter white pith, then juice all the oranges. Add the juice, zest, mashed banana, sugar, raisins if using, and 1 gallon of water to the fermenting bucket. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the liquid smells bright, sweet, and a little green from the peel.

3. 3

   Top and pitch

   Add enough remaining water to reach about 2 gallons total, then stir in the yeast nutrient if using. The liquid should be room temperature, not hot. Sprinkle in the yeast, stir once, and cover with a lid fitted with an airlock or with a clean cloth secured tight.

   Bread yeast will ferment if that's all you have, but ale or wine yeast gives a cleaner drink. Eat what you have, but know what each thing does.
4. 4

   Let it work

   Ferment at cool room temperature, about 68F to 75F, for 2 to 4 days. Stir with a sanitized spoon once a day. It should bubble, smell citrusy and yeasty, and lose some of its heavy sweetness. If it smells rotten, moldy, or sharp in a bad way, don't save face. Throw it out.

5. 5

   Strain and settle

   Strain out the orange peel, banana pulp, and raisins through a sanitized fine strainer or cloth. Let the tumunu settle cold for a few hours if you want it clearer, or serve it cloudy the way a living home brew often is. Taste before serving; it should be lightly alcoholic, tangy, fruity, and still gentle.

6. 6

   Serve the circle

   Serve chilled in small cups, passed and shared, never treated like a hollow party trick. This is Cook Islands, Atiu's hand, and for the real tumunu club order, the songs, the speech, the manners of the circle, go to the people of Atiu who carry it. They should tell their own story.

Chef Tips

• •Know your law and your table. This is alcoholic, so serve only to adults where home fermentation is legal.
• •Sanitation is the difference between a good sour-fruity ferment and a spoiled bucket. Clean first, then sanitize. No shame in being fussy there.
• •Don't bottle this tight unless fermentation is fully finished and you know homebrewing practice. For this kitchen version, keep it cold and drink it young.
• •This is not ʻava or kava, the ceremonial root drink. For those chiefly protocols, go to the matai, aliʻi, ʻeiki, ariki, and elders of the island whose circle you are entering.

Advance Preparation

• •Make tumunu 2 to 4 days before the celebration, depending how warm your room is and how dry you want the drink.
• •Chill the strained tumunu for 4 to 12 hours before serving so the fruit sediment settles and the drink pours cleaner.
• •Drink within 2 to 3 days after straining and keep it refrigerated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 345g)