In St Vincent, Christmas does not smell of pine. It smells of sorrel.
Every December, bushels of deep-crimson sorrel (Hibiscus sabdariffa) appear at the Kingstown market, and almost every household will simmer the dried calyces with ginger, cloves, orange peel and a generous pour of local rum. The resulting drink — tart, spiced, brilliantly red — is the unofficial soundtrack of the season.
From the kitchen to the still
When we began experimenting with our second expression, sorrel was always the starting point. It carries everything we love about a Caribbean Christmas in a single ingredient: tartness, warmth, a long floral finish.
We pair it with mulberry — which lifts the floral notes — and let the natural pigments do the work. Nothing is added for colour.
How to taste it
- Pour 50 ml over a single big cube of ice.
- Top with a premium light tonic — anything too aromatic fights the hibiscus.
- Garnish with a strip of orange peel and, if you can find one, a dried sorrel calyx.
Sip slowly. It should taste like a Vincentian December: sun-warmed, a little spiced, unmistakably festive.