When talking about flavour in drinks, you cannot leave out the Mojito from the conversation. This Cuban classic has so much to offer and there is a reason it is popular among so many people.
Although there is no official birthplace for the Mojito as it is still up for debate, it is widely recognised as a classic drink from Havana, Cuba. It was thought that the Mojito stemmed from South Americans and Indians making use of “Burning water” (a crude form of rum made from sugar cane) mixed with lime juice, sugarcane juice and mint to create home remedies for tropical illnesses.
Another theory is that it was invented by famous British sea captain Sir Francis Drake , who created the cocktail the “El Draque” which featured the ingredients of a Mojito but was prepared with Brandy. It is also thought that African slaves were instrumental in the making of the Mojito as they worked on the sugar cane farms in Cuba and “Guarapo” the sugar can juice they produced became a popular drink amongst them. This juice then went on to be regularly used in Mojitos.
The Mojito has so many variations (The rose Mojito, Blanco Mojito etc) that we could not talk about them all in one blog post. However, one thing to note is that in a lot of hotels in Havana they opt to use Angostura bitters to cut the sweetness of the drink and muddle icing sugar in with the mint leaves rather than cane sugar. A survey in 2016 found that the Mojito was the most popular drink in both the UK and France. So, this is a drink you could have a lot of fun playing around with and maybe you will find that you prefer certain new age variations more. But for now, here is how to make the classic Mojito.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz. (45ml) Light rum
3/4 oz. (22.5ml) Simple syrup (Sugar syrup)
1oz. (30ml) Fresh lime juice
Soda water (to top)
6-8 mint leaves
Garnish: A mint spring and a lemon slice
Preparation
Put your mint leaves, lime juice and sugar syrup in a Collins or highball glass.
Muddle them together gently to release the mints oils and juices into the mixture.
Add a dash of soda water.
Fill the rest of the glass with crushed ice.
Add your light rum .
Top off the drink with more soda water.
Garnish the drink with your mint spring and lemon slice.
Further Information
To add even more mint flavour and aroma to this drink, hit a mint leaf between your hands to release its oils and rub it along the rim of the glass. Hitting the leaves before putting them in the glass to muddle can also increase the mint flavour.
If you are a fan of citrus flavour and want to add a bit more to your Mojito you can opt to muddle ¾ of a lime into the drink instead of just pouring lime juice in.
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