There have been several requests for the recipe for my Root Juice in the past few weeks, so I guess that I need to talk a little about this marvelous concoction. The idea came from a little bar called Fungi's at the foot of the Point Pleasant Resort in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. About a year ago I had the pleasure of staying there and spending a number of really enjoyable evenings tasting some of my favorite rums and dining at their dockside restaurant. The food there is absolutely wonderful and unique. They had this bottle on the bar that was stuffed with branches, and assorted other things and filled with 151 rum. What a concept, so I searched the Island and was able to purchase some really huge Cinnamon sticks and some Agave root. These treasures were tucked away into my suit case and brought back here to Key West where I thought about how I was going to find branches etc. that were not poison or cause some other problem that I would be liable for. Not being able to get enough information on stuff in the wild I packed up for a exploratory journey to my local Publix and started the search for all of the necessary ingredients to create this "masterpiece". 
First thing I found was Bean Sprouts, they just make it look more evil, then comes dried shrimp for the same reason. Searching further down the aisle I found chamomile, star anise, and eucalyptus, these had medicinal value. Heading down to the produce area I came across a rack of raw nuts, what a concept nuts that have only been removed from the shells and placed in a bag. Anyway I got Brazil nuts, pecans, cashews, and almonds I felt a nutty taste would add to the overall flavor of the mix. Now that I have finally arrived in the produce area I saw the ginger roots and the yucca roots which I knew would add more to the medicinal vale to the concoction. Upon arriving back home I found an old wine bottle ($2.50 a half gallon variety) cleared off the label and fill it with all of my collected treasures and topped it off with a fine bottle of 151 rum. Capped the bottle and let it sit on my counter for 2 weeks and brought it down to the Rum Bar where the final ingredient nutmeg was added. We use the whole nutmeg for our Painkillers, and the small leftover pieces added another flavor and some more medicinal quality to the blend. We have put as of yesterday 81 fifths of 151 rum through these roots and the flavor is still very good and hasn't lost any of its fine flavor. I can's say for sure how long the roots will be producing good flavor , but it has been 13 months now and going strong.
This is an open invitation to make your own and don't be afraid to add things that makes your special. If the mix is too strong you can cut it with a nice 80 proof gold or white rum to get the level you desire. Just have fun and drink it with pleasure and responsible as all good rumstylers do. ;o)
