Some of the most famous cocktails in the world originated in the Caribbean, and while they come in a variety of tastes and traditions, they all share one common ingredient: rum. Here are some of our favorite Caribbean cocktails and how you can make them at home.

Piña Colada, Caribe Hilton

The Piña Colada is a midcentury classic that matches perfectly with its birthplace,
San Juan’s Caribe Hilton hotel. Bartender Ramón “Monchito” Marrero invented the popular tropical drink in 1954, originally
a non-alcoholic refresher blended in a shaker glass (it was years later that
Marrero began adding rum to the mix (the frozen variety arrived even later).
The government of Puerto Rico declared the Pina Colada the commonwealth’s
official drink in 1978.

Caribe
Hilton Piña Colada:

• 2 oz light rum (the resort uses Bacardi)
• 1 oz coconut cream (the resort uses Coco Lopez)
• 1 oz heavy cream
• 6 oz pineapple juice 
• ½ cup crushed ice       

Directions: Mix rum, cream of coconut, heavy cream and pineapple juice in a blender. Add ice and mix for 15 seconds. Serve in a 12 oz glass and garnish with fresh pineapple and a cherry.

The post From The Bahamas to St Thomas, the Caribbean’s Most Famous Cocktails appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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As any frequent Caribbean traveler knows, a high-functioning sun shirt is a necessity.

In fact, the Caribbean Journal team travels with several sun shirts on every trip. 

A good sun shirt is lightweight, fast-drying and easy to wash out in a sink and hang up to dry quickly.

Most importantly, though, it protects from the the sun.

Understandably, we are constantly looking for the best in sun-protection clothing — and were delighted to discover Vapor Apparel and its Altered Latitudes brand of clothing, the makers of a full range of purpose built clothing ranging from sun shirts to board shorts, face and neck gaitors, leggings and hoodies.  

But what really caught our eye was the company’s diverse collection of Caribbean-inspired clothing, with a multitude of destinations for travelers to represent, from St Croix to Harbour Island and everywhere in between.

To learn more, we caught up with Vapor Apparel’s Ashley Prin.

Tell us about Vapor Apparel and Altered Latitudes. What makes your company and clothing different? 

Our clothing is extremely comfortable. It delivers superior UPF 50+ sun protection and amazing graphics that really pop. We are a small, self-funded, 16-year-old company focused on making a quality product at a very fair price. Originally we have sold “to the trade” but are now bringing our brand straight to you.

Tell us about UPF 50+ — what does that mean and why is it important?

UPF stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor and it is measuring the shirt’s ability to protect your skin.  50+ is the gold standard. Our gear not only meets UPF50+ standards —  it is also recognized by the Skin Cancer Foundation. Our UPF rating actually increases with every wash, offering you a shirt you can trust. 

Some of your shirts are made with recycled products. What’s that all about?

We make garments out of recycled water bottles. 16 water bottles are removed from the waterways or landfills with every one of our Repreve sustainable long-sleeve shirts. We are working on adding more and more recycled options in 2020. Everyone can be doing a little bit more to be kind to mother nature and we want that option for our customers.
  
You use a zinc-based technology that defends against bacteria.  How does that work? 

Zinc is an odorless element that is often added to apparel and textiles in production. Zinc eliminates odor by killing the bacteria that cause it. The technology we use meets all international textile standards and has a lower Co2 impact than others on the market. It is great technology. We are killing odors – not the ozone layer.

For more, visit Altered Latitudes.

— CJ

The post The Perfect Sun Shirts for the Caribbean appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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Caribbean spiced rums aren’t particularly exotic — there’s hardly
a bar in America where you can’t order a “Captain and Coke,” for example. But
there’s one unique variety of Caribbean spiced rum that you may not have heard
of, 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 baby
maker”) as well as for its medicinal qualities, such as improved digestion and
blood circulation.

The recipe for mamajuana endured even long after the Taino
disappeared from the Caribbean, decimated first by the rival Arawaks and then
enslavement and disease brought by Europeans. The latter added spirits and red
wine to the recipe, and gave the concoction its modern name (which comes from a
nickname for the type of squat, wicker-covered bottle the drink was
traditionally stored in).

Today, mamajuana is considered the national drink of the
Dominican Republic, although until recently you were more likely to find it
served at a local bar than at a Caribbean beach resort.

Mamajuana also has endured as a variety of the “bush rum” found
throughout the Caribbean, especially on islands with a strong Latin influence.

For example, on St. Croix, which has strong cultural connections
to Puerto Rico, tourists may flock to the Mount Pellier Domino Club to feed
cheap beer to the resident pigs, but savvier visitors know the superior
attraction is sipping owner Norma George’s homemade mamajuana.

Never made exactly the same way twice, mamajuana retains its air
of mystery, but in recent years it also has begun to show up on liquor store
shelves, with somewhat more refined versions produced under brands like Candela
and 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 cocktails.
Different drinkers will experience different flavor notes, but I found Candela’s mamajuana to have a taste reminiscent
of root beer or birch beer, and — bottled at 60 proof — a smooth finish.

Resort bartenders in the Dominican Republic have used mamajuana
in place of rum to make mojitos, Pina coladas, and daiquiris, for example, and
the Cuprum Miami bar at South Beach’s Beach Plaza Hotel uses Candela as the
base for a variation of the Negroni cocktail.

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 the
Dominican Republic — first encountered mamajuana on vacation.

“I was at the Bavaro Palace in Punta Cana and everyone was
drinking this stuff,” he remembered. “I met a good group of friends at the pool
bar and it turned out to be a wild night. I went to the bartender the next day
and 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 from
his trip, “but I could only find it in DIY form” — bottles filled with herbs
but requiring buyers to add their own spirits, wine, and sweetener. Despite
having no background in the spirits business, he left determined to bring his
new, favorite drink to a wider audience.

“I loved the taste, how it made me feel, and it is very cool
culturally,” said Russo. “Mamajuana is to the Dominican Republic what tequila
is to Mexico. Latin people have a certain ‘spice,’ and Candela really embodies
Latin culture.”

Mamajuana Cocktails from Candela

Sugar Daddy, the Dominican Old-Fashioned

3 oz mamajuana

1 tbsp brown
sugar

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 oz orange 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 of
drink, so feel free to add some red wine to Candela mamajuana if you want to
experience the more traditional flavor of what some have called “Dominican
sangria.”

The post Rediscovering Mamajuana, the Legendary Drink of the Dominican Republic appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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