St. Croix Distilled Breadfruit, Mutiny Vodka

By Bob Curley

The history of the Caribbean may be soaked in rum

Mutinty Vodka Todd Manly

but a chef from St. Croix is looking to shake up that narrative with an island-born vodka distilled from breadfruit.

“Just like tequila should come from agave, an island vodka should come from breadfruit,” which grows wild across the West Indies, says Todd Manley, who founded Mutiny Vodka along with Chesapeake Bay Distillery CEO Chris Richeson in 2017. 

 

Movie lovers may recall that Lieutenant William Bligh was on a mission to transport breadfruit from Tahiti to the Caribbean when his crew launched the famous Mutiny on the Bounty. Manley adopted the name to the movie (Mutiny) for his breadfruit vodka, which is distilled in a solar powered facility and uses cisterns to capture the island’s ample rain.  Built from the ground up, the distillery is located St. Croix’s Sion Farm, a former dairy turned organic farm. 

 

In addition to becoming a fixture at local bars throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, Mutiny has also been commandeered as a featured rum at Applebees restaurants in the southern United States. Manley, who himself owns four local restaurants on St. Croix, says Mutiny has but two ingredients—breadfruit and Caribbean rainwater—and retains a taste through the distillation process that reminds some sippers of green banana.  

 

In addition to the 80-proof neutral spirit, which retails for around $20 per 750 ml, Mutiny also produces a more limited run of coffee and hot pepper vodka as well as a “Roots” variety infused with a pair of tropical spices—ginger and turmeric. 

 

Production and sales of Mutiny Vodka help support a regional program called Trees That Feed, founded by Manley and fellow chef Sam Choy to promote breadfruit planting and cultivation in the Caribbean.  

 

“The intention is to end starvation,” says Manley. “One breadfruit tree (which can produce hundreds of fruit each season) can feed a family of four for the rest of their lives,” he says. 

 

Breadfruit isn’t the easiest thing to distill alcohol from, Manley acknowledges: “It takes you 12 hours to digest, and when you’re trying to make a mash, it fights you.” Still, the company is determined to keep Mutiny an authentic spirit of the islands, planting breadfruit trees in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Haiti and distilling up to half a million bottles of vodka annually in St. Croix. 

 

“We want everyone to enjoy a better cocktail and also want people to know about our mission and make it a reality,” Manley says

 

 

 

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