Highball · c.1900
Mojito
Rum, lime, sugar, mint and soda. Ruined more often than any other classic.
Specification
| White rum | 50 ml |
| Fresh lime juice | 25 ml |
| Sugar syrup 1:1 | 20 ml |
| Mint | 10–12 leaves |
| Soda water | to top |
| Crushed ice | to fill |
Method
- 01Clap the mint between your palms and drop it in the glass.
- 02Add rum, lime and syrup, then half-fill with crushed ice.
- 03Churn with a bar spoon, then top with more ice and soda.
- 04Crown with a full mint sprig, slapped once to wake it up.
Where it comes from
Descended from El Draque, a sixteenth-century Caribbean mixture of aguardiente, lime and mint, and settled into its modern form in Havana around 1900. Hemingway drank them at La Bodeguita, which is why everyone else does too.
If you change one thing: Never muddle mint into a paste. Bruising releases chlorophyll and it tastes like lawn — clap the leaves instead and let the churning do the rest.