Puerto Rican Moonshine, Pitorro, Finds a Home

Saved to Dropbox Oct 6, 2016, 6:43 PM

! Search "

nk

ipes Puerto Rican

dshed
Moonshine,
Pitorro, Finds a
Home in the Bronx
Edible Films

e Our Guide
By Robert Simonson
February 3, 2015
1 Comment
Events
This article appeared in
February/March/April 2015: Issue No. 39 of Edible Manhattan.

u r Tr a v e l I s s u e

ibe

Puerto Ricos native hooch burns bright in

e the Bronx.

age Subscription

e A Community

hattan

oklyn

g Island

t End
At the tiny Port Morris Distillery in the Bronx,
along the far wall between two long shelving
units laden with barrels, hangs a rolled-up piece
of olive drab cloth. When its unfurled, it
reveals itself to be a hammock.

This is where Tio Rafael Rodriguez, the

companys Puerto Rico-born master distiller,
rocks back and forth, thinking great thoughts
as he waits for another batch of PMDs chief
product to make its way through the 105-
gallon German-made combination pot-column
still.

The product is pitorro, a form of moonshine

that is widespread in Puerto Rico but little
known outside that island commonwealth.
PMDs version, released in both a clear and a
barrel-aged expression, is the first example to
be commercially produced in the United
States.

That Rodriguez is comfortable while working

is important. For he is the man who holds the
recipe in his head, and he moved from
Guayama, Puerto Rico, to New York to help
his nephews, Jerry and Ralph Barbosa, launch
their liquor concern.

My uncle brought the recipe from Puerto

Rico four or five years ago, said Ralph. Its an
old family recipe. Hes been moonshining since
he was about 16. At 19, he branched off in his
town and started created his own recipes.

Its not unusual that the Barbosas should have a

pitorro formula in the family. In Puerto Rico,
homemade moonshine is as common as sweet
tea on verandas below the Mason-Dixon Line.

Listen, in Puerto Rico, if you go to

someones house, theres no Bacardi, explained
Ralph. Everyones always going to offer you
pitorro. Theres going to be a moment where
theyll say, Ill be right back. Then theyre
going to go into the back somewhere and come
back with a jug.

The company has been at its location on East

133rd Street since 2011 its a lonely
industrial neighborhood, but not that lonely:
The Tirado Distillery and Bronx Brewery are
nearby. But it spent the next two years securing
its distilling license.

It labeled its first bottles as rum, not knowing

that when you add the fruits, it changed the
category, remembered Ralph. We did some
trade shows and met a few distillers. One of
them said, Dude, youre not making a rum.
We went back to the drawing board.

Historically, pitorro was basically rum

moonshine a strong, high-proof, raw spirit
made from molasses or sugarcane. Today, with
cane no longer one of the islands cash crops,
its less clearly a relative of rum, often being
made from brown sugar. Because PMD is
licensed as a farm distillery, it must use
ingredients grown in New York State. Thus, the
corn is drawn from Lake View in Penn Yan, the
honey hails from Roxbury Farm in
Kinderhook, and the Gala apples are grown at
Samascott Orchards, also in Kinderhook.

My uncle chose to use brown sugar, because it

takes away that smoky, fiery taste that molasses
gives you, said Ralph. He created his own
version, which we consider a cleaner version.

Apples are not a traditional ingredient, but

fruit is. In Puerto Rico, pitorro is often infused
with whatevers ripe, be it pineapples or
oranges or grapefruit. Any fruit that they find
in season, said Barbosa. The results are called
curados. (Some adventurous types actually cure
their moonshine with meat and seafood.)

PMD has been experimenting with several

curados, which can be tasted in the distillerys
cozy, colorful tasting room, which is open on
Friday nights. One curado, featuring honey,
may eventually be released commercially.
Others are flavored with habanero peppers and
a combination of raisins, dates and cinnamon.
The latter recipe comes via the grandmother of
another distillery partner, William Valentin, a
childhood friend of the two Barbosa brothers.
All three grew up in the same housing
development on 100th Street and Amsterdam.
Slowly but surely, the Bronxs local Puerto
Rican population has discovered PMDs
handiwork. They come and ask, Is it real?
said Manny Munoz, the distillerys bartender.
Because you normally only get it in Puerto
Rico. Then they tell their memories it. When
they try it, its almost too good to be true for
them that its made here. PMD also offers
something that would be completely
unfamiliar to people who remember the elixir
from life back home: a barrel-aged version.
The twist weve done is aging it, said Ralph.
My uncle always wanted to age in wood
barrels. The aejo pitorro is aged in a
combination of new and used oak barrels from
Breuckelen Distilling for between nine months
and two years, then blended. PMDs young
history has not been without its hiccups.

The bottles brought out in late 2013

read Shine instead of Rum. Suddenly,
PMD wasnt one among many craft rums, but
the only pitorro in the U.S.

The distinctive bottle is an homage to the jugs

that traditionally hold pitorro in Puerto Rico.
The bottles come in the usual 750-ml size as
well as a pint-size 375 ml for the wary.

A lot of people get intimidated, so they go

small, pointed out Munoz. The next time,
though, they go big.

Rodriguezs distilling process, meanwhile, is

not an homage to old-world ways but the real
deal. The clear pitorro is bottled at 92 proof,
just as Rodriguezs always was in Puerto Rico.

My uncle, he never used any measuring tools

to measure the alcohol, said Barbosa. Instead,
Rodriguez judged everything by eye and nose.
Hed put the distillate on his hands, rub them
together and smell them. Hed then throw
some of the juice on the floor, light it on fire
and time the minutes until the flame went out.
As Ralph prepared to open PMD, he began to
test each sample finished this way with a
hydrometer. Each batch was 92 proof, give or
take a fraction in either direction.

Every time! marveled Ralph.

Those hammock breaks are well-earned.

Photo credit: Scott Gordon Bleicher

NEWSLETTER

Be the first to know about invite-only happenings,

delectable giveaways and when new issues hit the streets.

Email address Sign up

Map Hybrid

Port Morris Distillery

780 E 133rd St
Bronx, NY 10454
Get Directions

Map data 2016 Google Terms of Use

CATEGORIES

DRINK

FEBRUARY/MARCH/APRIL 2015: ISSUE NO. 39

 MELTING POT

TAGS

Bronx, pitorro, Port Morris Distillery, Puerto Rico

Robert Simonson writes about cocktails, spirits and bars

for the New York Times. His book "The Old-Fashioned:
The World's First Classic Cocktail" was published by Ten
Speed Press in May. With his visit to Van Brunt
Stillhouse, he thinks he's finally seen every Brooklyn micro-
distillery. But he's not sure.
 HOW NEW YORKS SAKE SCENE GOT SERIOUS

EACH SUNDAY, THIS COCKTAIL GLASS IS HALF FULL WITH COFFEE

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

July 10, 2009

Jimmy Carbone Hath Created

the Good Beer Seal

July 10, 2009

Southampton Publick House:

Where Great Beers Are Not
Taken Lightly

WIN TICKETS TO THE BIG CHOCOLATE

SHOW

THE edible GUIDE

Our picks for the citys best things to eat and drink,
along with fantastic food markets, food sellers, food
artisans and other shops.

READ OUR TRAVEL ISSUE

NEWSLETTER
 Be the first to know about invite-only
happenings, delectable giveaways and when new
issues hit the streets.

edible Manhattan

edible Brooklyn

edible Long Island

edible East End

Events

Email address Sign up