The natives discovered that if you baked the ti root a sweet liquid migrated to the surface of the root. They did not know that chemically, the heat changed the starch in the root to a fermentable sugar. The baked root was then soaked in a vat of water which dissolved the sugar and fermentation began to take place. The resulting beer was drunk and the natives obtained a good buzz. The beer was later distilled into a high proof spirit which was prized by the King
