 Spanish aristocrat Tia Maria, according to legend, fled Jamaica in the mid-17th century during one of the periodic colonial wars. Her maid saved a small jewellery box containing black pearl earrings and an ancient manuscript with the recipe for a mysterious liqueur. The recipe was lost and supposedly rediscovered in the 1940s by a Dr. Evans who produced and marketed it. Another variation is that the recipe was actually developed in the 1930s by Jamaica’s Lascelles Mercado who sold it to Pernod-Ricard who sold it to current producer, Italy’s Illva Saronno It. I prefer the lovely Spanish aristocrat story. Check out the many Tia Maria cocktail recipes at https://www.tiamaria.com/. |