Mojito Recipe
Email
Buy Now
If rum is your favorite potation, the Mojito may become your favorite summertime refresher.
Something of a Mint Julep made with rum, the Mojito is always muddled with fresh mint leaves. Ernest Hemingway drained daiquiris at Havana’s La Floridita, but he quaffed his Mojitos at La Bodeguita del Medio—or so says the sign at La Bodeguita. There is no substantial evidence, however, that Papa ever bellied up to that bar, but he was certain to have nibbled a few of these coolers in his time. La Bodeguita did manage to take this plebeian drink from the hands of the farmers and working class and place it in those of the well heeled. These efforts paid off, and the Mojito became such a Cuban standard during the 1930s and 1940s that it earned such celebrity adherents as Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, and Lou Costello. The cocktail is enjoying a full-scale revival today. The drink is so crisp and smooth that you may be wondering who’s on first if you don’t keep score of how many you are socking away.
If you know how to make a Mint Julep—and you should—you can muddle up a Mojito. Muddle the entire mint sprig to release the juice from the stem, and add a generous squeeze of lime right before serving. La Bodeguita bartender Jorge Lorenzo Viqueira Lee advises that you follow the ingredient proportions religiously to achieve the harmony of flavors that makes a perfect Mojito. You may also add a dash of bitters.
- 3 small sprigs fresh mint
- 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
- 1 1/2 ounces light rum
- 2 ounces cold club soda
- Muddle 2 mint sprigs with the sugar in a mixing glass. Add the rum, and shake with ice. Strain into a collins or highball glass; then top with the soda, and garnish with the remaining mint sprig.
This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food
team.
Copyright Quirk Books
I prefer to top with a splash of Sprite instead of Club Soda even though the official recipe is Club Soda
In Cuba the mint is simply broken a few times and stuffed in the glass. Muddling has no place in an authentic mojito recipe.
Which isn't to say muddling is some how bad, it's just not authentic.
Mix Shake and Pour suggests this ratio of ingredients:
2 shots Light Rum
0.75 shots Lime Juice
0.5 shot Sugar Syrup
along with the muddled mint and a very modest top of soda.
Its really important to muddle the mint leaves gently so you don't overpower the rum and lime flavours with mint. The top of soda should be not much more than a splash. If your glass is only half full, you didn't fill it with ice before you started! Adding a lot of soda will dilute the delicate Mojito flavours and make it a bland drink.
More detail can be found here:
http://www.mixshakeandpour.com/cockta...
For those who love Simple Syrup, Trader Joe's has a really good version that is organic.
i like the lazy man's recipe. i can barely mix a vodka soda. i usually go to haven down the street from my apartment on 51st because they have $13 pitchers of mojitos that i split with my ladyfriend. pretty sweet spot and a really cool atmosphere.
I've gotta give my recipe for the lazy man's mojito - the syrup is premade, and the only other ingredients are rum and a splash of fizzy mixer.
It's long, so the link is http://burningmyselffrequently.blogsp.... There's a lot more flavor in the syrup.
To be absolutely, positively precise -- a squirt. I make a fresh batch of simple syrup every couple of days and keep it in a squeeze bottle. So, when making a mojito, I put the lime and mint in the mixing glass and a quick squirt -- about one second.
Rob-
What amount of simple syrup do you use?
Try Bacardi Melon...watermelon Mojito!
With no mint leaves in it? Isn't that part of the Communist Manifesto? Where's the fun in that? It ain't a mo'jito without the leaves. Without the mint leaves, it should be called a lessjito.
Although I mentioned it in the text, the absence of lime in the recipe was the second mistake (and only second, I hope) I have found in my book. It was somehow deleted as the book went to print, probably because it was at the top of the page. Although I call for superfine sugar, I muddle the mint and lime with simple syrup at my bar. Some people take issue with straining the mixture into a glass. While speaking with dale DeGroff in new Orleans recently, he agreed that straining makes for a cleaner cocktail. -Rob
Try using a dark rum like Meyers for a great twist on the flavor.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE LIME.
There are countless recipes for the Mojito but this version is from the Mojito's place of birth: La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba.
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Juice from 1 lime (2 ounces)
4 mint leaves
Havana Club white Rum (2 ounces)
2 ounces club
For a small pitcher:
18 small sprigs fresh mint
6 teaspoon superfine sugar
9 ounces light rum
12 ounces cold club soda
For a Large pitcher:
36 small sprigs fresh mint
12 teaspoon superfine sugar
18 ounces light rum
24 ounces cold club soda
i would love to see this recipe except by the pitcher instead of by the cocktail. any chance?
I'm with Living4fun: the lime is crucial. I muddle the mint, and then cover it with at least half a lime, sometimes a whole one if they're small or meaty. Instead of sugar, I use simple syrup. I never thought to muddle the lime with the mint. I'll give that a shot.
I've always made my mojito with limes muddled with the mint and simple sugar. I know limes are mentioned in the text of the article but they are not listed in the ingredient list or instrucions.