The Cuban Mojito
The Cuban mojito is both a tiki bar drink and a classic highball served the world over. We know Havana, Cuba is it’s birthplace, but the origin of its name and when it was created are lost to history.
The earliest recipe was meant to cure tropical illnesses like scurvy and dysentery. Made with a crude form of rum, the lime, sugarcane juice and mint helped disguise the poorly made spirit.
Hemingway and the Cuban Mojito
One legend says Papa’s favorite cocktail was the mojito. In fact it is written on the wall at the popular bar La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana. However, it’s well documented Hemingway’s favorite cocktail was the daiquiri and the inscription stating otherwise, a fraudulent claim.
Regardless when, where and how the mojito came to be, it’s undeniably delicious and a thirst-quenching tropical summer delight.
Ingredients
- 2 oz white rum
- 1 oz demerara simple syrup
- 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
- Club soda
- 1 wedge of lime
- 2 sprigs of fresh mint
Instructions
- Place 3-4 mint leaves in the bottom of a collins glass
- Add the lime juice and bruise the leaves with a blunt muddler enough to release the fragrant oils, but not enough to tear and chop up the leaves
- Add the simple syrup and lightly stir
- Fill the glass with ice cubes and pour over the rum
- Top off with club soda
- Rim the glass with 2 more mint leaves and leave them in the glass
- Briefly stir with a straw and garnish with a sprig of mint and the wedge of lime
Notes
Go easy on the mint and keep those leaves in one piece. There’s nothing uglier than a mojito filled with tiny fragments of mint floating in it!