At age 83, Zepheniah Brown is still as strong and agile as any man 40 years his junior.

His secret: Keeping himself busy and consuming a daily dose of dark-brown wet sugar.

It's a business that has been vibrant in Lundie, a section of the Darliston community in Westmoreland, since the days of slavery and today, the tradition lives on. Even the very procedure of producing the sugar is maintained, using a horse-drawn mill to grind the cane and boiling the juice in large copper pots.

It's something Brown has loved since childhood.

"When me was a bwoy, me did haffi go sell it so me could go get something to eat," he adds.

Brown loves it so much he has been making it himself. He recently acquired his own mill to get things started and now makes tonnes of wet gold.

"Them nuh know 'bout dry sugar roun' ya so. Roun' ya so dry sugar come in like luxury," he says in a humorous tone.

Unrefined, wet sugar is a most nutritious form of cane sugar. It's packed with iron and other essential minerals and fibres and said to be good for the nerves.

It can be had by itself as a tasty treat or used in almost anything one would use table sugar to prepare, which makes it a recommended form by health-food advocates.

"Is something mi know bout (wet sugar). Me love it. Yes, man," Brown says.

Unrefined, wet sugar is a most nutritious form of cane sugar. It's packed with iron and other essential minerals and fibres.

Cane juice is extracted the old-fashioned way using a horse-drawn mill.

Clarence Clarke pours cane juice into the copper pot.

Zepheniah Brown shows the Gleaner team what the finished product looks like. - photos by Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Making sure the sugar does not spill out of the pot during the boiling process.