High in antioxidants, roselle is used in herbal medicine as a diuretic, mild laxative, cough medicine, for high blood pressure and even to treat cancer! Heated leaves are used as a poultice to treat sores. The leaves are eaten like callaloo or spinach in some parts of the world and it makes delicious jam and chutney as well as herbal tea.

So what are we talking about? It’s December isn’t it, surely you’ve bought your sorrel by now!

Since we’ve had the good news that Appleton supplies are not affected by last night’s (2nd December) awful fire at Wray and Nephew, it’s time to draw your sorrel, my great-grandmother’s stone jar is ready for mine.

Sorrel Drink
4 qt sorrel (seeds removed)
1 gal boiling water
Strip fresh orange peel
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice berries
2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger or to taste
1 lb each granulated and brown sugar
White or “red” rum to taste
Place the sorrel and spices in a large, clean glass or ceramic jar. Pour boiling water over. Cover and let the mixture steep for at least 24 hours. Strain, add sugar and rum to taste. Pour into clean bottles and refrigerate.

Not too much rum, December’s only just started!

Read more about Jamaica at Jamaica-Allspice.com

In the 1720s, Louis XIV of France sent three Arabica coffee plants to his colony of Martinique. Two plants perished and the third was given as a gift or bribe by the Governor of Martinique to Sir Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica, in about 1728. Other versions say that the plants were part of the cargo on a captured French vessel. Plant, soil and climate created a perfect synergy and by 1737, Jamaica started to export coffee and the rest, as they say, is history.

Most of the coffee available in our local supermarkets is what is known as high mountain coffee, this coffee meets some but not all of the criteria. It may be grown at the correct altitude but not in the Blue Mountains or it might be grown below the minimum altitude, or it might just possible have been grown on a certified Blue Mountain plantation and the beans were not quite the right size or colour! Some of our locally available coffee is High Mountain mixed with imported product as, for every pound of Blue Mountain Coffee sold, we can buy 10 pounds of Brazilian or Columbian.

The designation, Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, is an internationally protected certification that can only be issued by the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica. Altitude, geographic location, method of drying and roasting, size of beans, etc. are all rigidly regulated and monitored; the beans also take twice as long to ripen as more mundane coffees. Blue Mountain Coffee is never freeze dried, decaffeinated or made into instant granules. Some people think that there is a low caffeine content because the coffee is not bitter but in actual fact this is not so; the caffeine level is quite high, it is a low acid content which gives the deceptively mild flavour. The rich, smooth taste makes this incredible brew one of the most sought after, and most expensive, coffees in the world. Blue Mountain Coffee is grown at elevations between 3,000 and 5,500 ft. Coffee does not grow properly above that height and below it lacks that special magic. There are only 18 plantations/companies certified by the Coffee Industry Board.

Read more about the Blue Mountains at Jamaica-Allspice.com

No self respecting Jamaican blogger would start with anything but Planter’s Punch. The traditional formula goes like this:
“One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong and four of weak.” One part lime juice, two parts sugar syrup or strawberry syrup, three parts rum (dark, white overproof or a mixture of both) and four parts water.

The eastern Caribbean offer a delicious drink called Cream Punch, the formula varies from Island to Island:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whipping cream or evaporated milk
1 cup dark rum or overproof rum
½ cup brandy or Tia Maria or ½ Angostura Bitters
Shake vigorously and serve over ice. Makes about a litre.

Who’s afraid of the notorious Devon Duppy?
1 oz gin
1 oz overproof rum
1 oz grapefruit juice
Dash of Angostura Bitters and hold on tight!

Hummingbird
1 oz vodka
1 oz Tia Maria
1 oz rum cream
1 medium banana
1 oz strawberry syrup
1 oz cream
add ice and blend

Yellow Bird
1 oz dark rum
½ oz Crème de Banane
½ oz lime juice
½ oz sugar syrup
Pour over crushed ice in 12oz glass, fill glass with orange juice

Sea Breeze
1½ oz vodka
2 oz grapefruit juice
2 oz cranberry juice
Serve over cracked ice with a wedge of lime

Sunset
1 oz wild orange liqueur
1 oz coconut rum
½ oz strawberry syrup
splash of lime juice
Pour over crushed ice and fill the glass with orange juice

Big Bamboo
1 oz. overproof rum
1oz dark rum
½ oz wild orange liqueur
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
1 oz lime juice
1 oz sugar syrup
Serve over crushed ice

Why not end the evening with Sex on the Beach?
1 oz vodka
1 oz peach schnapps
2 oz orange juice
2 oz cranberry juice
Serve over crushed ice

Enjoy your sampling of Jamaican drinks and remember to drink responsibly!