Mamajuana - what is it? In this article we will try to tell more about this alcoholic drink. Of course, when you look at the bottle of Mamahuana, you can call it a drink with a stretch. It is full of some sticks, twigs, pieces of bark ... But just try to sip this infusion of the Caribbean forest, and your attitude to the drink will change. The first thing a tourist is given to drink to adapt to an unusual climate in the Dominican Republic is, of course, “Mamahuana”.
If a man is well over forty, but he wants to look (and be) a real macho, he is also prescribed this national drink of the Dominican Republic. And the ladies of “Mamahuana” will also not hurt: she is not only an aphrodisiac, but also treats many diseases, from flu to oncology. At least, the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic strongly believe in this. Well, if it is an elixir, then, as with any medicine, it is important to know the dose. But “Mamahuana” is not only drunk in its purest form. Many Caribbean cocktails are prepared from it.
Composition of Mamahuana
Despite the consonance with the name of the drug, there is nothing criminal in the drink. These are harmless, but very useful roots, trees and grasses. But the composition of the drink is quite complicated. It will take at least twenty-four ingredients to make Mamajuana Tincture. What are these components? Among them are those that any housewife in the kitchen has: basil, rosemary, star anise (or star anise), lemon balm, bitter ginger, lime. But the rest are species of trees, shrubs and vines that grow only in the Caribbean. These include Jamaican malagueta pepper, ciococcus (its Indians used as an antidote for snakebites), guaiac tree bark, cat's claw plant and many other exotics. Therefore, you need to live somewhere in the Dominican Republic in order to enjoy and be treated with the Mamahuana drink.
Tincture Recipe
In the homeland of this type of alcohol, you can buy a finished product in a bottle, or a bag with all the necessary ingredients - that is, roots, vines, bark, spices. If we purchase this mixture and in addition to it a bottle of rum (it doesn’t matter whether it is light or dark), we can successfully prepare the Mamajuana drink at home.
After all, this process is very long. During the holidays in the Dominican Republic, you are unlikely to make a drink. It should be noted that most of the roots and herbs in the set are very bitter. The first infusion must be drained. You can add it to the water for bathing. Therefore, a glass jar is half filled with wood and the entire container is filled with some cheap distillate. Then let it brew for at least six weeks. During this time, bitterness from wood should go away, and pathogenic bacteria - perish.
Bring the matter to the end
Draining the first liquid, we are taken to make the actual drink. Here it is up to you. It depends on the manufacturer how it will be. What is Mamajuana, what is it: tincture, liquor, dessert liquor? Any alcoholic drink will have healing properties. And its strength depends on the fact that you will fill in a can with alcoholic wood for the second time.
You can also manually adjust the sweetness of the drink. So how does the “setup” of Mamajuana happen? Want to get a distillate? We uncork a stored bottle of dark or light rum. Would you like to end up with a pleasant liquor? Add a mixture of it (thirty percent) with red wine (70%). Sweetness is regulated by natural honey, but not sugar. After this, shake the mixture and insist a couple of days.
In what form to buy alcohol Mamajuana
Dominican Republic offers tourists several options. The first is a bag of dry ingredients. It is inexpensive. But in this case, you will have a long process of insisting on strong alcohol (not vodka, which can ruin the taste). In addition, there are many fakes on the market. It is possible that you will get worthless palm roots.
Sold in the Dominican Republic is a ready-to-drink purified drink. It is produced by several official distilleries of the country. There are several types of “Mamahuana”: sweet, with spices, bitter, dark or light (this depends on the type of rum poured the second time). The disadvantage of buying a purified drink is that you have to throw out the empty bottle.
The best way to purchase Mamahuana
Sold in the Dominican Republic and containers filled with a drink with wood. This is the best option to purchase Mamahuan Tincture. The recipe for making a drink is already known to us. We drink liquid, fill in a new one. And the taste of the elixir only gets better. After all, the secondary fluid may still be bitter. The tannins contained in the wood do not easily leave the bark and roots. The third and fourth tinctures will be much softer, more noble.
It is believed that the raw materials for Mamahuana can be poured thirty times until the wood in the bottle becomes anthracite-black. But there are drink lovers who believe that the roots and vines from the Dominican Republic are truly undying. They can be used not thirty, but countless times.
Action "Mamahuana"
First of all, a dear guest from Europe who is tired of a long flight is offered a glass shot of the amber drink Mamajuana. “What is it, rum?”, Tourists often fear that a strong distillate would not hit the head and deface an already weakened body. But the action of "Mamahuana" is special. Five minutes later, there is no sign of fatigue. The head remains clear, the legs also do not braid, but the mood improves markedly. One feels such an emotional upsurge that he can pull on sexual exploits - moreover, representatives of both sexes.
This drink can be used as an aperitif - it, in addition to everything, also increases appetite. But at night it is not recommended to use it, unless you have plans to spend it vigorously. At the first symptoms of a cold, indigestion and the like, immediately drink a glass of Mamahuana. Indians in the Caribbean used this elixir long before Columbus arrived.
Mamajuana: how to drink, features of the national culture of drinking
If you relax in the Dominican Republic, you can purchase a ready-made purified drink. It began to be produced relatively recently, since 2005. The leader in popularity is Mamahuana Kalembu, a product of the J & J Spirits factory. How to consume this drink? You can pour it into a shot glass (fifty grams). It is good to relish it also with ice, but for this you need a glass of a larger volume.
In the Dominican Republic, “Mamajuanu” is often included in cocktails. They make “Baby Mary” (add instead of vodka), “Caiparinha” (replace rum) and even “Mojito” with her. This tincture goes well with juices: passion fruit, coconut, pineapple and orange.
Who invented the "Mamahuana"
Although this elixir is considered the national pride of the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic, the honor of its invention belongs to the shamans from the island of Haiti. For a long time they prescribed it to women suffering from infertility. The Spaniards who arrived in the West Indies adopted the recipe for making tinctures, and highly appreciated its effect as an aphrodisiac. And they prepared the drink in special bottles: wide, but with a narrow neck. In Spain, this capacity was called the "mother of Juan." It is ideal for making tinctures from Caribbean trees and spices. So the name of the bottle became the name of the drink. It is interesting that at first the Spaniards made “Mamujuana” based on port and much later they began to replace it with rum.