Cocktail recipe
Mojito
Mint and lime sparkle against white rum in Cuba's most refreshing long drink.
Ingredients
- 60 ml (2 oz) white Cuban-style rum
- 25 ml (⅚ oz) fresh lime juice
- 20 ml (⅔ oz) simple syrup (1:1)
- 8 fresh mint leaves
- 90 ml (3 oz) chilled soda water
- Garnish: 1 mint sprig and 1 lime wheel
Preparation
Place mint, lime and syrup in a highball and gently press twice—enough to perfume the glass, never pulverize the leaves. Add rum and cubed ice, give one brief lift with a bar spoon, then add measured cold soda. Garnish with a lively mint sprig beside the rim.
Glassware
Highball glass
History
The Mojito is rooted in Cuban rum-and-mint drinking traditions, but its precise inventor and date remain disputed. Accounts connect it to an earlier drink called El Draque, to local cane spirits, and to the Mint Julep's influence; none is an established single line of descent. Havana's La Bodeguita del Medio made the Mojito famous, but its claim to have invented the drink is disputed. The familiar Hemingway quotation displayed at the bar is also questioned by historians.
Mixology View
The Mojito is not improved by grinding mint into green fragments. A light touch and restrained sugar let the rum, lime and aromatic leaves stay distinct. We credit Cuba, not a confidently named inventor.