As a bartender myself, I am always hearing from other bartenders how much they hate to make Mojitos. The reality of it is that his refreshing and classically Cuban cocktail has been tampered with too much by restaurants by creating the illusion that they are labor intensive. But, in my opinion, they are no more time consuming than many other cocktails. The recipe is simple:
- the juice of 1 lime or 1oz of lime juice
- 5-10 mint leaves
- 2 tspns of bar sugar
- 2 ounces of aged rum
- soda water
- Now, mudle the first three ingredients (a few light taps should do the trick. There is a huge misconception out there that the mint needs to be pounded). Add the rum and top off with soda water.
The Mojito first gained international acclaim at the still-standing La Bodequita del Medio in Havana, Cuba where people like Nat King Cole and, most famously, Ernest Hemingway made it their drink of choice. Today, you can still visit this infamous bar and witness old cuban bartenders whipping up what seems like 50 mojitos in under a minute. The awesome part is that there are no gimmicks to their mojitos. No fruit flavors or anything like that. Here is a picture of me behind the bar with the bartenders at Bodequita del Medio in the summer of 2011:
Done right, the Mojito is not a difficult to drink to master. I will say though that I have discovered that most people find the recipe listed above as too tart. At family parties when there is a call for mojitos, it has come in handy to make a small batch of simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water), and add 1 once of the syrup to mojitos while cutting back to 1/2 to 1 tspn of bar sugar.
Next time your bartender gives you guff for ordering a Mojito don't feel bad for it. Just don't order 8 at one time, especially if it is really busy. Or go for it, just dont expect your drinks right away.
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