Mojito is pronounced as (mo-Hee-toe), which comes from the African word mojo and means “to place a little spell”. There are many stories about the origin of this well balanced and refreshing cocktail. Some say that it was the mastermind of the Cuban slaves working in sugar cane fields in late 1800. Others say that it was the great English pirate “Sir Richard Drake”, who added lime, sugar and mint, thereby creating a cocktail called “El Draque” or the Dragon. When aguardiente (an old and strong version of rum) was replaced with lighter rum, the mojito came on the stage. Since then there is no stopping this cocktail and if James Bond can ask for one in the movie “Die Another Day” then there are no limits to its popularity and sales potential for bars and restaurants.
Which one of the above tales is true? It’s hard to tell but one thing is for sure, an outstanding cocktail never dies.
At LRM we teach our students both, the modern and authentic version of this cocktail as demonstrated in the video below.
A modern-day mojito is a variation of the authentic mojito which has no boundaries. You can play around with the ingredients and keep inventing new recipes.
To make a modern-day mojito, you will need the following:
Glass: Highball – Any kind of shape and style is acceptable
Garnish: Slice of lime and mint
Ingredients/Mise-en-place: fresh mint leaves 10-12, ½ of lime cut into wedges, 3 tea spoons of white or brown sugar, 5cl of light or dark rum and soda water or sprite.
Preparation: Muddle the mint, sugar and lime, then fill the glass with crushed ice, pour the rum and top it up with soda water or sprite. With the help of a bar spoon, stir well at the bottom of the glass and finish it off with a nice garnish. If you want to make a strawberry or passion fruit mojito, then the fruit is added during the muddling process.
An authentic mojito demands more respect and every step in process must be done with love and care. To make an authentic mojito you will need:
Glass: Long glass/highball
Ingredients/Mise-enplace: 8-10 Fresh mint leaves, 3 tea spoons of fine white sugar, juice of ½ a lime, soda water and Angostura bitter.
Preparation: before dropping the mint in the glass, the rim of the glass is aromatized by rubbing the mint against the glass. Then sugar is added and juice of half a lime. The lime juice should cover the mint and sugar. The mixture is “gently” muddled by using the back side of the bar spoon. Don’t crush the leaves. “Ice cubes” are used to fill the glass to the top. To this we add 5cl of light rum and top it up with soda water. A dash of angostura bitter is added and the cocktail is gently stirred and finished off with a garnish of a slice of lime and mint. Many hotels in Havana still use angostura bitter to cut the sweetness of the sugar.
For me the mojito is a very summer cocktail which is easy to make and refreshing to drink. Whenever you create a cocktail list for your bar, make sure the mojito is there because you will be busy making and selling them all day long! So the question is…which one would you drink or make and why?
