Mojito Cocktail Recipe

Born in the bars of Havana, the mojito is a classic that never goes out of style. A crisp, fresh and bright cocktail made with rum, lime, sugar, mint, and soda water, a form of it has been around since the 1500s. The modern-day version, perfected in the 1900s, still appears on bar menus globally. What makes this one of the world’s most well-known rum cocktails? Read ahead to find out. 

Who invented the mojito cocktail?

Much like the martini cocktail, the mojito also does not have a single, known inventor. As per most records, it evolved from another drink, El Draque, which was commonly consumed by ship crew, mariners, or seafarers. The precursor used a much harsher sugarcane alcohol, and it wasn’t until the 19th century, when rum production improved in Cuba (where the drink originated), that the current recipe was devised. 

The first known written recipe appeared in the book El Arte De Hacer un Cocktail y Algo Mas in 1927. It’s a legendary Cuban cocktail book that documents the golden age of Cuban bartenders. Today, the classic has several variations such as the nojito, made without alcohol, the dirty mojito, made with gold rum instead of white, and the cojito, which uses coconut-flavoured rum. There’s also a mojito blanco in Mexico that swaps rum for blanco tequila. Peru, on the other hand, introduces fruity variations to the classic by adding fruits like grapefruit, passionfruit, etc. 

How to make the perfect mojito cocktail?

The perfect mojito cocktail requires careful measurements and extra attention to a few key techniques: 

- The mint: It gives the drink its trademark herbal sweetness and aroma and needs to be prepped correctly. Gently slap the leaves in your hand first to release their essential oil, and then add them to the bottom of a highball glass. 

- Muddle gently: Use a cocktail muddler to press the mint very lightly. Do not crush or shred the leaves into tiny pieces, as this makes the drink bitter. Just bruise them to release the fragrance. 

- Always use crushed ice: The large surface area of crushed ice quickly chills the drink and provides a controlled amount of dilution to balance the strong flavours of rum, lime, and mint.