Tia Maria is a coffee liqueur made originally in Jamaica using Jamaican coffee beans. The main flavor ingredients are coffee beans, cane spirit, vanilla, and sugar, fermented to an alcoholic content of 26.5% (alcoholic content as sold has been reduced to 20%).According to legend, the history of Tia Maria started in the 17th century, in the days when colonial wars brought chaos to the Caribbean. During this period, a young woman, owner of a Jamaican plantation, was forced to flee with her chambermaid. In the chaos, her chambermaid just had the time to take her mistress's most treasured possessions, including a pair of black pearl earrings and an old manuscript containing the secret recipe for the family liqueur. In gratitude and in memory of her faithful "Aunt" Maria, the young noblewoman named this dark liqueur "Tia Maria".It can be consumed pure and with ice, but is also frequently used as an ingredient for cocktails, with coffee, or in desserts .