MAMAJUANA HISTORY

Mama Juana is considered one of the first distilled spirits in the Americas, even before rum. This is plausible considering that Christopher Columbus mixed European alcohol with the Taino Indian‘s herbal tea and this created mamajuana.

During the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, the sale of mamajuana was prohibited. The law stated that a medical license was required to sell mamajuana.

Mama Juana was popularized as a local herbal medicine and aphrodisiac in the 1950s by Jesus Rodriguez, a native of San Juan De La Maguana. Rodriguez would commute with others in trucks to Barahona, Azua, Pedernales, and many other provinces in the Dominican Republic to collect the stems needed to create the medicinal drink. He would often use Carne De Carey (Tortuga) which was the active ingredient that made the aphrodisiac.^{[citation needed]} Rodriguez eventually would be known under the moniker “Mamajuana” by many of the locals, Tatico Henriquez and other merengue típico artists such as Trio Reynoso and El Cieguito De Nagua, who were close friends of Rodriguez.

Another notable mamajuana drinker was Porfirio Rubirosa, the famous Dominican playboy, polo player, race-car driver and secret agent. Rubirosa was famous for his sexual prowess and was known to be an avid mamajuana drinker, as mentioned in his biography, The Last Playboy.

The local residents of Dominican Republic refer to Mamajuana as the “Baby Maker” and “El Para Palo”, which means Lift the Stick. The Dominicans say, “Whatever tortures you – Mamajuana takes care of it