Mutiny Island Vodka: The Breadfruit Distillery at Sion Farm

St. Croix's newest distillery makes the world's least likely vodka. At Sion Farm, in the shell of the old Island Dairies plant, chef Todd Manley distills Mutiny Island Vodka from breadfruit — the starchy Caribbean staple tree — and pours it in a tasting room that doubles as one of the island's more entertaining bars.

Why breadfruit

Breadfruit grows across the Caribbean in generous, low-effort abundance — a canopy tree that drops carbohydrates. Turning it into a spirit is both a chef's flex and a quietly serious idea about island agriculture: a crop that needs no replanting, feeding a still instead of falling to the ground. The result is a soft, faintly sweet vodka that took gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2022 — the judges didn't grade it on novelty.

Visiting

The distillery opened in 2019 and runs free tours Monday through Friday, 11 to 5, no reservation drama — walk in, see the stills, hear the pitch, taste the range at the bar. It's mid-island at Sion Farm, which puts it minutes off Centerline Road and makes it the easiest distillery stop on St. Croix, and a legitimately good rainy-hour plan.

The three-still crawl

Spirits nerds can run the island's full flight in one weekday: Cruzan (booked ahead) and the Captain Morgan Visitor Center — the Diageo plant's weekday tasting operation — plus Sion Farm, with Leatherback Brewing near the airport as the beer chaser. All of them close their tours on weekends; plan the crawl Tuesday–Friday and appoint your driver early. Details and hours live in the rum & spirits directory.

Take-home math

A bottle of breadfruit vodka is the rare souvenir nobody else at Thanksgiving will duplicate — and it rides home inside the USVI's generous $1,600 duty-free exemption.