Caribbean spiced rums aren’t particularly exotic — there’s hardlya bar in America where you can’t order a “Captain and co*ke,” for example. Butthere’s one unique variety of Caribbean spiced rum that you may not have heardof, even though its origins date back more than 800 years: Mamajuana.
As originally made by the native Taino people, mamajuana (or Mama Juana) was prepared as a tea with a mix of herbs, tree bark, and — if legends hold true, the private parts of a turtle.
The latter is important because all through its long history,mamajuana has been touted as an aphrodisiac (its local nickname is ”the babymaker”) as well as for its medicinal qualities, such as improved digestion andblood circulation.
The recipe for mamajuana endured even long after the Tainodisappeared from the Caribbean, decimated first by the rival Arawaks and thenenslavement and disease brought by Europeans. The latter added spirits and redwine to the recipe, and gave the concoction its modern name (which comes from anickname for the type of squat, wicker-covered bottle the drink wastraditionally stored in).
Today, mamajuana is considered the national drink of theDominican Republic, although until recently you were more likely to find itserved at a local bar than at a Caribbean beach resort.
Mamajuana also has endured as a variety of the “bush rum” foundthroughout the Caribbean, especially on islands with a strong Latin influence.
For example, on St. Croix, which has strong cultural connectionsto Puerto Rico, tourists may flock to the Mount Pellier Domino Club to feedcheap beer to the resident pigs, but savvier visitors know the superiorattraction is sipping owner Norma George’s homemade mamajuana.
Never made exactly the same way twice, mamajuana retains its airof mystery, but in recent years it also has begun to show up on liquor storeshelves, with somewhat more refined versions produced under brands like Candelaand Kalembu.
Candela mamajuana, available in the Dominican Republic as well as more than a half-dozen U.S. states, is marketed as a premium product: a 750-mi bottle sells for $25-$35.
Alejandro Russo, Candela’s founder and CEO, says the spirit starts with aged Dominican rum distilled directly from sugar cane juice. Spices and organic honey are added next, and the blend is then aged again in American white oak barrels.
The complete ingredient list for Candela (the name alludes to the Spanish idiom for “sexy” or “too hot to handle”) is a secret — but rest assured, turtle is not an ingredient in the mix.
Also missing is the red wine traditionally used in mamajuana, but Candela does include the main traditional herbs used by the Tainos, including Bohuco Pega Palo, Clavo Dulce, Anamú, Palo Brazil, and Maguey leaves.
“Everything is as authentic and natural as you can find,” Russo said.
Mamajuana can be sipped neat, on the rocks, or used in co*cktails.Different drinkers will experience different flavor notes, but I found Candela’s mamajuana to have a taste reminiscentof root beer or birch beer, and — bottled at 60 proof — a smooth finish.
Resort bartenders in the Dominican Republic have used mamajuanain place of rum to make mojitos, Pina coladas, and daiquiris, for example, andthe Cuprum Miami bar at South Beach’s Beach Plaza Hotel uses Candela as thebase for a variation of the Negroni co*cktail.
Russo himself prefers a mamajuana Old Fashioned.
“Even though people in the Dominican Republic often drink it for its medicinal properties, we focus on its mixology aspects,” he said.
Like a lot of people, Russo — a native of Chile, not theDominican Republic — first encountered mamajuana on vacation.
“I was at the Bavaro Palace in Punta Cana and everyone wasdrinking this stuff,” he remembered. “I met a good group of friends at the poolbar and it turned out to be a wild night. I went to the bartender the next dayand asked him, ‘What was that?’ And he flexed his arm and told me, ‘This is‘Dominican Viagra.’”
Hooked, Russo searched in vain for mamajuana to take home fromhis trip, “but I could only find it in DIY form” — bottles filled with herbsbut requiring buyers to add their own spirits, wine, and sweetener. Despitehaving no background in the spirits business, he left determined to bring hisnew, favorite drink to a wider audience.
“I loved the taste, how it made me feel, and it is very coolculturally,” said Russo. “Mamajuana is to the Dominican Republic what tequilais to Mexico. Latin people have a certain ‘spice,’ and Candela really embodiesLatin culture.”
Mamajuana co*cktails from Candela
Sugar Daddy, the Dominican Old-Fashioned
3 oz mamajuana
1 tbsp brownsugar
Dash of Bitters
Garnish with orange twist
Mijita, The Sexy Mojito
3 oz mamajuana
1 tbsp sugar
5 fresh mint leaves
2 lime wedges
Muddle all together, top with soda water.
Huracán
3 oz mamajuana
1 ozorange juice
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz passion fruit juice
Spicy Mama
3 oz mamajuana
2 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz jalapeño-infused simple syrup
Footnote: Mamajuana has always been a do-it-yourself kind ofdrink, so feel free to add some red wine to Candela mamajuana if you want toexperience the more traditional flavor of what some have called “Dominicansangria.”
