Generally speaking, it’s not good form to spit into someone’s drink. But in Amazonian Peru, guests are treated to a traditional drink that is laden with saliva. The drink, called masato, is home brewed from the root of the cassava plant. Chunks of peeled cassava are chewed up by the local ladies and the liquid portion spat back into a vat. Certain proteins in the saliva initiate fermentation and a few hours later the result is a cloudy white drink with a slightly sweet but sour taste. The alcohol content of masato varies dramatically from the time it was made as the liquid ferments, converting starch to sugar to alcohol. But it still has spit in it. You can’t cover that up with a mixer.
