🥃 Mamajuana

Mamajuana is a traditional drink of the Dominican Republic. Dry bark, roots, sticks and spices go into a large bottle, which is filled with a mix of rum, red wine and honey and left to steep for a week to several months. Its taste is compared with port, and its colour is dark red. There is no fixed recipe: each family makes its own.

History. The plants used in mamajuana were known to the Taíno, the Indigenous people of Hispaniola. According to Punch, the drink took its present form after colonisation, but it became widely popular in the 1950s, when the travelling merchant Jesús Rodríguez spread his mix of herbs, wine and rum. The name is linked to the large bulbous bottle that in English is called a demijohn.

Ingredients. Sources name guayacán, anamú, cinnamon bark, star anise, clove, sarsaparilla and basil among the plants. The liquid base is most often dark rum, less often white, plus red wine and honey. Some bottles contain only dry plants, which you steep yourself and top up later.

Serving. It is usually drunk in small portions at room temperature, sometimes with ice; bars also make cocktails with it. According to Tasting Table, bottled versions have about 30% ABV. Folk beliefs about health benefits are not confirmed by science.

Why it matters to you. Mamajuana is a type of drink, not a brand: the strength and ingredients differ from bottle to bottle. Under Regulation (EU) 2019/787, rum may not be flavoured, so in the EU such an infusion is not sold under the legal name “rum”. Read the label and the ABV. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.