The Mojito

Hello once again! I'm back from the depths of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia, and am now relaxing in beautiful Yorkshire. Good times. This post has got a little bit out of hand; I said I wouldn't do such gigantic posts regularly, yet here it is... Next time, I promise it will be short and sweet, filled with much more of my usual wit and charm, and less clunky history and recipes.

The Mojito...

 

The Mojito is a traditional Cuban highball, made famous by Ernest Hemingway and finding increasing popularity amongst young people seeking a refreshing summer drink. As usual, we’ll start by checking the International Bartenders Association spec to get an idea of the standardised Mojito - 

IBA recipe - MOJITO (highball glass ) (popular cocktail) -
4.0 cl White Rum
3.0 cl Fresh lime juice
3 sprigs of Mint
2 teaspoons Sugar
Soda Water
Muddle mint sprigs with sugar and lime juice. Add rum and top with soda water. Garnish with sprig of mint leaves. Serve with straw.

The preparation of these ingredients is slightly different to the average ‘build and shake’ cocktail, due to a technique called ‘muddling’. The generic Mojito is made by adding lime juice/wedges, sugar/syrup and mint to a glass and muddling gently to release the essential oils and increase the aroma of the mint. The rum is then added, followed by crushed ice and soda water to top. Mint sprigs and lime wedges can be used as garnishes. 

The best way to learn how to make a traditional Cuban Mojito is to visit the interactive Havana Club Website. This very impressive site features sections on events, music, heritage, rums, cocktails, mojitos and a bartender’s guide. Browsing this site makes me happy, the chilled out Latin music with slick presentation on rum based cocktails is my idea of internet heaven! Hopefully next summer will hold a cheeky trip across the world to Cuba, fingers crossed...

ANYWAY, on our quest for Mojito based knowledge we can do worse than check out Havana’s video tutorial from the Bodeguita del Medio (the Havana bar famous for keeping Ernest Hemingway constantly half-inebriated).

From 1942, Hemingway would swing by for Mojito nearly every day, and as a result La Bodeguita still has his handwritten message to the bar on their wall; the now famous expression, ‘My mojito in La Bodeguita, my daiquiri in El Floridita’. As the bars fame spread, its clientele grew more distinguished; Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, Ava Gardner, and more recently Mohammed Ali and Naomi Campbell. Wherever and however the Mojito originated, it is now almost impossible to separate it, La Bodeguita, and the prestige the two share.

I’ve noted down the Havana Club recipe from the tutorial here -

 2 teaspoons white sugar

Half a lime/lemon juice, enough to cover all sugar

2 mint sprigs

9cl sparkling water (2 parts)

Muddle

4.5cl Havana 3

4 ice cubes (1part)

Stir well.

Everybody knows the Mojito is from Cuba, but very few of us have any idea how exactly it was created. One story that seems to be most popular is the ‘El Draque’.

A 16^th century cocktail called ‘El Draque’ (or sometimes a ‘Draquecito’) is very similar to our Mojito, and is fact named in honour of Captain Sir Francis Drake. The key ingredient here was actually aguardiente, a very primitive ancestor of modern day rum, closer to cachaca. To hide the harsh taste of this rather unrefined spirit, and also possibly in keeping with sailors anti-scurvy techniques, large amounts of lime and mint were added. Around 1650, rum became more widely available to the British, and it replaced aguardiente in El Draque. At some point between then and now, this concoction became known as the Mojito.

The Bacardi Mojito website also tells this story in detail, explaining that in 1586 Francis Drake headed the British fleet, and during these adventures, his subordinate Richard Drake invented the ‘Draque’ cocktail. They point out it was served with a wooden spoon, and was consumed mainly for medicinal purposes.  1833 and 1868 saw serious cholera outbreaks in Havana, and Bacardi claim ‘narrator Ramon De Paula’ wrote “Every day at eleven o’clock I consume a little Draque made from aguardiente and I am doing very well”. Admittedly, a little research on Mr De Paula grants us nothing but recycled Bacardi website quotes, but we can imagine the Spanish elite relying on this mix of vitamin C and alcohol-sterilised water to keep cholera at bay.

The website goes on to claim that in the mid 1800s, around the time Don Facundo Bacardi Masso established the Bacardi Company, the Draque recipe was changed to include rum. This is what we now call the Mojito.

This last claim is at odds with other accounts of the Draque/Mojito transition, and to be honest may well be clever marketing by Bacardi to further monopolise the Mojito market. (Thanks to the Bacardi Mojito tent at ‘T In The Park’ festival, my summer masterclasses are full of people berating me for not using ‘proper’ rum in my mojitos and telling me proper mojitos aren’t muddled...)

The Draque story at least is given weight by the wikibook on bartending; their page on Mojitos cites the Draquecito as an early influence, saying ‘The mojito is a descendant of the Draquecito, named after Sir Francis Drake and said to be his favourite drink before pirate battles. That drink is made with aguardiente rather than rum, and uses water instead of ice and soda, neither of which would have been available to Drake on the high seas.’

Even the name of the Mojito is a subject of contention. One theory is that Mojito is a derivative of ‘mojadito’, Spanish for "a little wet", or simply of "mojado" (wet). Whilst possible due its Spanish/Cuban linguistic roots, I’m not entirely sure that what defines this cocktail amongst others is the fact it is ‘a little wet’. Slightly more believable is the claim that mojito is an extension of ‘mojo’, a Cuban seasoning made from lime and used to flavour dishes. The translation I have heard from a few bartenders recently is that ‘Mojito’ is taken from an African Tribal language word – ‘mojo’, meaning, ‘to cast a little spell’. I think this is my favourite, although that is probably based more on the magical connotations (and in part due to Austin Powers’s references to his mojo) than any tangible proof.

On to the variations then. Every cocktail has them, and the mojito is no exception.

Firstly, I found out quite recently that due to a long standing trade embargo on Cuban/American exchanges, Cuban rum cannot (legally) be purchased in the United States. I guess this means Mojitos in the states just use other white rums?

Also worth noting is that the drink is also spelled Mohito and Moxito in certain areas of Cuba – I believe this has the same or very similar pronunciation.

For the increasingly popular fruit flavoured mojitos, use fruit purees or fruit flavoured vodkas and rums. Raspberry, mango, strawberry, lychee or mandarin, are often used.

Here are a few more twists on the original, some from bars I’ve worked in, bars I’ve been in, some from my own noggin, from my friend’s noggins; really just a quick overview of what can be done with the Mojito premise.

Firstly, probably the most popular commercial variation in Britain is the Bison Grass Mojito. You might not think you’ve had it, but read on. This mojito was created by the Vodka Revolution bar chain in the UK, as until last year their menu policy restricted them to vodka based cocktails. As a result, customers ordering Mojitos were just given Revolution’s twist. I will not have a bad word said about this cocktail, it’s one of the most refreshing mojitos I’ve ever had! The recipe is explained in this article - 

3 tsp Demerara sugar/15ml gomme syrup, 8-10 fresh mint leaves, and 5 lime slices all muddled in a glass.

Then add half the ice, 25ml Havana Club Rum, 25 ml Zubrowka Vodka and 50ml apple juice.

Shake, add the rest of the ice and mint sprig to garnish.

Another twist some female friends were experimenting with was simply replacing standard rum with Malibu (or Koko Kanu), and replacing soda with either lemonade or pineapple juice. This can be a little sweet, so I would perhaps recommend not using sugar in this one. On the topic of flavoured rums, Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum has a very distinctive flavour that is only complemented by the mojito base. I like to give a nod toward the Dark and Stormy cocktail by combining dark/spiced rum like Jerry’s with ginger beer and a mojito base. The flavour is quite unique, refreshing yet layered due to the medium sweet nose filled with vanilla and oak. The sharpness of the mint is countered perfectly by the cinnamon and clove flavours of the rum.

Banyan in Harrogate used to do a Gingerbread Mojito; although it doesn’t seem to be on the menu any more I’m sure any bartender that remembers it won’t object to making one. From what I could gather it involved the usual mint, lime, sugar combo, then a spiced rum, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, topped with lemonade or soda. It tasted like gingerbread men, and this impresses me. Although to be fair that night a lot of things impressed me, hence why I’m a little hazy on the recipe.

Another nice twist is the fairly obvious Raspberry & Pear Mojito. This recipe is taken from 56 North, not because I think they invented it, but because it’s the last place I had one.  Their fun menu lists this one as ‘Bacardi, Xante cognac, fresh mint, raspberries and limes over cracked ice refreshed with a splash of soda water’. This is perfect for those warm summer days when 56 opens its window/door things onto the pavement, relaxing on their comfy leather sofas.

Whilst we’re here I should probably mention rum a little bit. As you’ve probably gathered, Mojitos don’t really require top quality rum, but if you want to experiment a little more with rum then simply Bacardi Superior and Havana 3 Anos probably won’t cut it.

So first off, an interesting little number from Venezuala. Pampero (owned by the prestigious Diageo Company), is a good quality blended rum. It comes with the somewhat extraneous accolade of being Venezuela’s best selling rum, and is rich, sweet and concentrated with flavours of ripe orange and pure sugar cane. Previously little known, it is slowly making its mark on the European market with great popularity in Italy and Spain. As far as I’m aware it’s a house pour for a couple of bars in Edinburgh now, namely Below Stairs/Hawke and Hunter and possibly Amicus Apple, but don’t hold me to that.

A notable sister of this rum includes the slightly less classy Captain Morgan’s/Morgan’s Spiced rums. Their website actually includes a recipe for a ‘Jamaican Mule’, which is pretty much a Dark and Stormy, and also a ‘Spiced Mojito’, which simply substitutes white rum for their spiced rum.

If Pampero is the middle class young undergraduate of the family, and Morgan’s is the slightly slutty 16 year old sister, then Ron Zacapa is most definitely the distinguished, qualified accountant older brother of the family.

Ron Zacapa hails from Guatemala and is famous for being the rum ‘aged in the town above the clouds’. It’s also famous for producing (as of yet) four dark super-premium rums ranging from £50 to £100. Here’s what the judges of The International Cane Spirits Festival 2007 had to say about the Ron Zacapa Centenario Rum Sistema Solera 23 (near the bottom of the range) -

‘Nose full of apricots, citrus fruits, vanilla, cocoa and bourbon; rich and full-bodied with spicy chocolate flavours and a pleasing tannic bite; very long finish, clean and rich with a lovely liqueur-like density.

Award: Gold Medal, Best In Category (Aged Rums 15+ Years Old)’

Not bad.

Obviously Zacapa and other ultra premium aged rums are meant to be drunk neat or on the rocks rather than mixed in mojitos, but since we’re on the topic I thought I’d share them with you!

Thats it for this week, and thanks for stopping by yet again to listen to my ramblings once again. I hope this has made you yearn for refreshing Mojito at your local cocktail bar (and I do mean cocktail bar, not pub or regular bar...) over the summer!

Next post will be when I’m back in Edinburgh; hopefully I can include either something I’ve thought of, or a local gem.

Till next time,

Much Love, Tom x