Mojito
“Cuba's most famous cocktail — white rum, fresh lime, sugar and muddled mint lengthened with soda water over ice, fragrant, tart and endlessly refreshing.”
Where it comes from
The mojito's roots reach back to 16th-century Havana, where an early medicinal forerunner called 'El Draque' — named for Sir Francis Drake — combined crude aguardiente, lime and mint. As Cuban rum-making refined over the centuries, the drink evolved into the bright, minty highball beloved at Havana's La Bodeguita del Medio and around the world.
On the plate
Crisp and effervescent, it leads with cool mint and bright lime, balanced by just enough sugar to round the edges. The rum hums underneath, warming but never heavy, leaving a clean herbal finish.
How it works
Muddling bruises the mint just enough to release aromatic oils without bitter chlorophyll, while soda water aerates and lifts the lime and mint aromatics; sugar dissolves into the acid to balance tartness.
Variations
with added fruit (strawberry, mango), sparkling-wine top, alcohol-free 'virgin' version, aged-rum variant
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 1How it's made
8 steps · Show ↓5 min active
How it's made
8 steps · Show ↓- 11 min
Add fresh mint leaves and sugar to a tall glass.
- 21 min
Squeeze in fresh lime juice.
- 31 min
Gently muddle to release the mint oils without shredding the leaves.
- 41 min
Fill the glass with crushed or cubed ice.
- 51 min
Pour in the white rum.
- 61 min
Top with chilled soda water.
- 71 min
Stir gently to combine.
- 81 min
Garnish with a mint sprig and lime wheel.
