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Mojito

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Mojito
IBA official cocktail
TypeCocktail
Base spirit
ServedOn the rocks: poured over ice
Standard garnishsprig of mint (Yerba buena in the original recipe)
Standard drinkware
Collins glass
IBA specified
ingredients†
PreparationMint sprigs muddled with sugar and lime juice. Rum added and topped with soda water. Garnished with sprig of mint leaves. Served with a straw.

Mojito (/mˈht/; Spanish: [moˈxito]) is a traditional Cuban highball.

Traditionally, a mojito is a cocktail that consists of five ingredients: white rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime juice, sparkling water, and mint.[1][2] The original Cuban recipe uses spearmint or yerba buena, a mint variety very popular on the island.[citation needed] Its combination of sweetness, refreshing citrus, and mint flavors is intended to complement the potent kick of the rum, and have made this clear highball a popular summer drink.[3][4] The cocktail has a relatively low alcohol content (about 10 percent alcohol by volume).

When preparing a mojito, lime juice is added to sugar (or syrup) and mint leaves. The mixture is then gently mashed with a muddler. The mint leaves should only be bruised to release the essential oils and should not be shredded.[5] Then rum is added and the mixture is briefly stirred to dissolve the sugar and to lift the mint leaves up from the bottom for better presentation. Finally, the drink is topped with whole ice cubes and sparkling soda water. Mint leaves and lime wedges are used to garnish the glass.[6]

The mojito is one of the most famous rum-based highballs. There are several versions of the mojito.[7]

The Mojito translates to "Something a little wet",[8] never originally contained lime juice [9][10] and La Bodeguita del Medio is more known for their food rather than drink, infact the mojito has never been on their menu.[11][12]

Cuba is the birthplace of the Mojito, although the exact origin of this classic cocktail is the subject of debate. One story traces the Mojito to a similar 19th century drink known as "El Draque", after Francis Drake.[4] In 1586, after his successful raid at Cartagena de Indias Drake's ships sailed towards Havana but there was an epidemic of dysentery and scurvy on board. It was known that the local South American Indians had remedies for various tropical illnesses; so a small boarding party went ashore on Cuba and came back with ingredients for a medicine which was effective. The ingredients were aguardiente de caña (a crude form of rum, translates as fire water from sugar cane) added with local tropical ingredients; lime, sugarcane juice and mint.[13] Drinking lime juice in itself would have been a great help in staving off scurvy and dysentery.[14] Tafia/Rum was used as soon as it became widely available to the British (ca. 1650). Mint, lime and sugar were also helpful in hiding the harsh taste of this spirit. While this drink was not called a Mojito at this time, it was still the original combination of these ingredients.[4]

Some historians contend that African slaves who worked in the Cuban sugar cane fields during the 19th century were instrumental in the cocktail's origin.[15] Guarapo, the sugar cane juice often used in Mojitos,[4] was a popular drink amongst the slaves who helped coin the name of the sweet nectar.[15]

There are several theories behind the origin of the name Mojito; one such theory holds that name relates to mojo, a Cuban seasoning made from lime and used to flavour dishes.[4][16] Another theory is that the name Mojito is simply a derivative of mojadito (Spanish for "a little wet") or simply the diminutive of mojado ("wet"). Due to the vast influence of immigration from the Canary Islands, the term probably came from the mojo creole marinades adapted in Cuba using citrus vs traditional Isleno types.

The Mojito was a favorite drink of author Ernest Hemingway.[17] Ernest Hemingway made the bar called La Bodeguita del Medio famous as he became one of its regulars and he wrote "My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita. " This expression in English can still be read on the wall of the bar today, in his handwriting.[18]

Variations

  • Many hotels in Havana also add Angostura bitters to cut the sweetness of the Mojito; while icing sugar is often muddled with the mint leaves rather than cane sugar, and many establishments simply use sugar syrup to control sweetness.[19] Many bars today in Havana use lemon juice rather than fresh lime.
  • Fruit-flavoured rums, such as mango, strawberry, lychee or mandarin, are often substituted.
  • A Mexican Mojito uses the Mexican native tequila instead of rum as a primary alcohol, and simple syrup instead of sugar for a sweetener. To simplify production, some restaurants will add mint leaves and peppermint extract to premade margaritas for Mexican Mojitos.
  • A "Dirty Mojito" uses spiced rum, brown sugar syrup, key limes, crushed mint and soda.
  • A Mojito without alcohol is called a "Virgin Mojito" or "Nojito"[20]
  • An "Apple Mojito" uses apple-flavoured liqueur as well as rum.
  • The drink is also spelled Mohito and Moxito in certain cultural areas of Cuba. [citation needed]
  • An "English Mojito" uses gin in place of rum and sprite as a substitute for sugar/soda. [citation needed]
  • A "Greek Mojito" uses Metaxa Greek spirit or Mastika instead of rum
  • A "Mojito Royal" is a mojito with Champagne instead of club soda.
  • A "Morelli Mojito" refers to a mojito made with Red Bull instead of soda water and Raspberry vodka
  • A "Mojitaly" is a mojito with fernet branca instead of rum and mapo instead of lime.
  • A "lychee mojito" is a mojito made with lychee syrup or liqueur and is popular in Hong Kong
  • A "sojito" is a mojito made with Korean soju instead of white rum.[21]
  • A "Guava Mojito" uses Union Jake's Guava Brandy instead of rum.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Traditional Mojito recipe from Cuba". Tasteofcuba.com. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  2. ^ Colleen Graham,  About.com Guide (2011-06-11). "About.com Mojito". Cocktails. about.com. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  3. ^ "Summer Cocktail News: Mojitos Go Fruity". Prweb.com. 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Shake It Up, Baby: Cuban Cocktail Is Making a Splash". Articles. latimes.com. 2001-08-12. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  5. ^ Posted by Fumi. "How to Muddle a Mojito". Wasabibratwurst.com. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  6. ^ "The Classic Cuban Mojito". Artofdrink.com. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  7. ^ Cuban Mojito Recipe or American Mojito Recipe
  8. ^ Havana mañana: a guide to Cuba and the Cubans by Consuelo Kamholz Hermer, Marjorie May in 1941
  9. ^ Lands of the inner sea, the West Indies and Bermuda by Walter Adolphe Roberts in 1948
  10. ^ Sky juice and flying fish: traditional Caribbean cooking by Jessica B. Harris in 1991
  11. ^ Menu, La Bodeguita del Medio, Habana, Cuba in 1959
  12. ^ All around the world cookbook - Page 282 by Sheila Lukins in 1994
  13. ^ Burkhart, Jeff (2012). Twenty Years Behind Bars: the spirited adventures of a real bartender (1st ed.). PhotoCine Media. ISBN 9780985500115.
  14. ^ Maratos, David. The 1st Cocktail, Invented 1586 Was A Medicinal Crude Rum Mix (Article 34) "How The El Draque Cocktail May Have Helped Britannia Rule The Waves". GoArticles. Retrieved 27 April 2013. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  15. ^ a b "Mojito History". Mojitocompany.com. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  16. ^ Mojito is derived from the Spanish mojo sauce, which often contains lime juice (see "mojito" at Dictionary.com, citing the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2006, Houghton Mifflin), while mojo is derived from the Spanish verb mojar, meaning "to make wet" (see definition 3 of "mojo" at Dictionary.com, citing Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7), 2003-2007, Lexico Publishing Group, LLC)
  17. ^ "Great American Writers and Their Cocktails". NPR.org. 2006-12-15. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
  18. ^ By W. Stock on August 8th, 2010 (2011-02-19). "Die ewige Bodeguita". Stockpress.de. Retrieved 2011-09-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Food: Mojito". The Austin Chronicle. 2006-08-18. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  20. ^ Gee, Denise. "Nojito Recipe". Epicurious.com. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
  21. ^ Larter, James. "Sojito Recipe". KonglishKitchen.com. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  22. ^ http://www.unionjakes.vc/union-jakes-drink-menu.php