In doing so, he also legitimized the drink as a medicinal elixir and placed it on the path to becoming the National Libation of the country.Portrait of Wilhelm Troszel as Don Juan, by Józef Simmler, 1846ĭon Juan ( Spanish: ), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. In response, President Trujillo chose to control the production and sale of Mama Juana by restricting who could produce it, decreeing that only those with a certified medical license could produce and sell Mama Juana.

And this became somewhat of a problem, because with so many different versions of the drink out there, almost anyone could make and sell it.

Thanks to the almost immediate success of the concoction, people across the country began making their own versions of the drink, touting different benefits depending on the herbs they’d chosen to use.

The medicinal qualities of the drink derive from the bark and herbs that steep in the alcohol, creating a sort of natural tincture of herbal goodness that is thought to benefit the body in all sorts of ways. Basically, it was an all-inclusive healer. Invented by Jesus Rodriguez in the 1950s, Mama Juana was created to be an herbal medicine that apart from acting as an aphrodisiac could rid you of the flu, aid digestion and circulation, and cleanse the blood, liver and kidneys. The result is an elixir that some say tastes similar to Port or Amaro, but unlike those fabled beverages, Mama Juana promises those who consume it all sorts of incredible benefits, including sexual potency, which has given the drink a nickname of “liquid Viagra”.

It’s a concoction that’s made by combining rum, red wine and honey, and then allowing that mixture to soak with tree bark and herbs. Unless you’re Dominican, happen to live in a Dominican neighborhood or have spent a lot of time outside of the all-inclusive beach resorts on the Dominican Republic exploring the real island, you have probably never come across Mama Juana.

Dona Juana by Lorena Lupu