The Mojito

Famed adventurer, world traveler and writer, Earnest Hemmingway, is often credited with introducing the mojito to North American liquor connoisseurs. Hemmingway reportedly scrawled the epigraph, “My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita" on the wall of La Bodeguita del Medio restaurant-bar in Havana, Cuba. The Caribbean concoction has since risen in status to become one of the favorite cocktails in the world.

There are plenty of ways to make a mojito, but one of the oldest recipes dates back to 1929, where it appeared in the Cuban bar guide book, “Libro de Cocktail,” under the name of “Mojo de Ron.”
 

INGREDIENTS

• 9 mint leaves
• Ice
• 2 oz white rum
• 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 1/2 oz club soda, chilled

In a cocktail shaker, muddle eight of the mint leaves. Add ice, rum, lime juice and simple syrup and shake well. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Stir in the club soda. Garnish with the remaining mint leaf.