A Dominican Dream: Mama Juana
Mama Juana or “Mother Jane” refers to a type of squat bottle that this drink is traditionally stored in. The Mama Juana drink began as a tonic or herbs steeped in tea mixture that was seen as a cure-all. This tonic is thought to heal everything from the flu to digestion trouble, aid in circulation, cleanse the blood, assist in making you more sexually potent, healing the kidneys and liver, and helping you sleep better. In the 1950’s alcohol was added and then sold as an aphrodisiac in the Dominican Republic. Some even refer to Mama Juana as “Dominican Viagra”.
The basic recipe of Mama Juana is a mixture of rum, wine, herbs, roots, and honey. They steep for a long time together and become a deep red concoction that is kept and served at room temperature in shot glasses.
How To Make Mama Juana?
Mama Juana does take time, as there are several steps and waiting periods to have the best outcome. The longer your Mama Juana sits in a cold, dry, and dark place, the better the taste will be. Traditionally you can also keep adding liquor or wine to your initial base never to run out. I recommend finishing the bottle first, then assessing the leftover mash to see if it can be re-used for another batch.
Enjoy your “heal-all” tincture of Mama Juana with friends as an after dinner drink or socially when gathered with friends between meals. A word of caution about drinking someone else’s Mama Juana is that everyone uses different kinds of herbs and barks, and some may be potentially bad for you. So please use caution. I advise making the recipe found below as a safe and much tastier way of invigorating yourself.
For more delicious homemade adult beverages see recipes for: Plum Wine, Moonshine Mash, and Apple Wine.
Notes
Prep Time: 10 days
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 cups cheap liquor (gin or vodka)
- 3 star anise (with seeds)
- 4 dried hibiscus petals
- 2 cinnamon sticks, smashed or broken
- 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
- 1 large grape leaf
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 2 tablespoons chicory bark
- 4 cups red wine
- 4 cups rum
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- In a large bowl crush all the herbs and barks together.
- Place the bark mixture into a bottle or jar and cover with the cheap liquor.
- Let this mixture stand together for 5 days, shaking the bottle every day.
- At the end of the 5 days, discard the liquor portion of the bottle.
- The first soaking has removed the bitterness from the mixture.
- Pour the wine, rum, and honey over the bark mixture and seal tightly.
- Let the mixture stand together for at least 5 days, shaking the bottle every day to distribute the flavor.