Mojito

The perfect summer drink: Mojito.

A mojito is a Cuban alcoholic beverage consisting of lime, mint, sugar, rum and soda. With the assistance and advice of other valued wikiholics, this page seeks to perfect this wonderful beverage. Test out the recipe... too sweet? more rum? different kind of rum? different kind of mint? Don't forget to check our Alcohol page for more great ideas on how to rest your weary mind.

There are a few bars in the Davis area that serve Mojitos.

The standard Sophia's Mojito, partially consumed

Sophia's was the first bar in Davis to start offering Mojitos. They currently offer the standard mojito as well as several flavored varieties including:

• Pomegranate
  

• Mango

• 1 jigger light rum

• handful mint leaves
  

• 1/2 lime (Adjust for taste — personally, i use 1/8 lime.)
  

• 2T simple syrup (simple syrup is one cup of water and two cups of sugar brought to a boil in a saucepan, stirred until the sugar disolves, and cooled). You can use 2-3 tsp of powdered sugar instead, but keep in mind that powdered sugar often has an anticaking agent, so you're getting a bit of cornstarch or tri-calcium phosphate in your drink if you do it this way.
  

• splash o club soda
  

Muddle mint, lime, & sugar in a highball and top with ice. Then, add rum & a splash of club soda. Voila!

Note that measurements will become less precise as the evening wears on.

A wonderful afternoon pitcher of mojito!

For an afternoon of mojitos, or drinking with wonderful, but lazy friends, it's far more efficient to make mojitos by the pitcher. Make sure you pick up a bag of limes at Costco unless you want to go broke paying supermarket prices. Following is the same recipe, but with proportions adjusted for the pitcher. Watch out for guests who skip the club soda, because your pitcher will require far more frequent filling!

• 16 oz light rum
  

• 2-3 handfuls of mint leaves [we used spearmint from the yard with good results]
  

• juice of 8-10 limes
  

• 16 oz simple syrup
  

• club soda & ice
  

Muddle mint, lime, and sugar in the pitcher (a wood tamper or spoon work well). Add the rum and enough ice to pre-chill your drinks but not so much that it melts and waters down your drink. Serve in the yard with a bucket of ice and soda water handy. Remember... the idea is for the bartender to relax *with* the guests! BTW: The guests were *very* happy with this recipe! True drinkers, all.

• 1 jigger light rum
  

• handful spearmint leaves
  

• lime
  

• 2T cane sugar
  

• club soda
  

Pour a little club soda in a glass, then muddle in spearmint leaves and sugar. Now add the rum, more club soda, and top it off with a squirt of lime. Finish with a lime wedge for presentation.

Like our primate cousins, some wikiholics have learned to simplify life with tools found within their environment! "No longer do I hand-juice 50 million limes and make simple syrup a day in advance. Measuring cups? Who needs ‘em!? I've discovered Minute Maid Limeade, and it has changed my life."

• 1 can frozen limeade
  

• 2 cans club soda
  

• 1 can(??) light rum
  

• handful mashed mint
  

Ta-Da! Guaranteed to get you drunker, quicker.

SummerSong's beautiful Strawb Mojito!

• SummerSong suggested a great variation, with frozen strawberries in place of ice! This makes for a dramatic touch.
  

• JaimeRaba suggests using turbinado instead of simple syrup for a darker drink a lo Cubano... a Morito.
  

• MikeIvanov says you can make it a Dirty Mojito by using brown sugar instead of white! He also likes to use a citrus flavored rum, such as Bacardi Limon.

Suggestions

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2005-05-26 21:00:38   We tried out your recipe last night (perfect night for a mojito!!!) and oops, I drank too much. Very good. I used less syrup, though. —SummerSong

2005-05-27 09:11:15   You should try your mojito without the simple syrup, but instead with turbinado sugar. This gives it a slightly darker, but slightly more interesting flavor. This is the way they make it in cuba, where they (for reasons unknown me to) call it Morito. Ennest Hemingway loved em, but his favorite recipe didn't even use sugar. —JaimeRaba

2005-06-27 18:42:35   I like to use a citrus flavored rum, such as Bacardi Limon. For a different taste, try making a "Dirty Mojito" using brown sugar. —MikeIvanov

2005-07-06 14:42:39   MMMMmmmmmm I made a pitcher of Mojitos at my Fourth of July BBQ, and they were loved by one and all. I used the advised amount of simple syrup, and thought it was too sweet, but my friends all thought it was fantastic! —SummerSong

2005-07-16 21:03:10   Okay, I'm not an expert, but I spent 4 months in Cuba drinkng these. They do not use syrup. The use pure cane sugar. They do not use mint, they use spearmint. To make it you poor a little club soda, put in the spearmint leaves and the sugar. You crush the leaves and mix it in with the small amount of club soda and sugar. You then add the rum, more club soda, and top it off with a squirt of lime. You also put the lime wedge in the drink. I have never had a one here in the US which is anywhere near the same of which they have in Cuba, —JimSchwab

Spearmint is what we mean when we say mint. It is usually the type of mint that is growing in our gardens and is used for cooking. And simple syrup is just sugar and water, if you don't want the grainy taste of sugar. I've seen some places add a sugar cane for decoration. -MiriamKaufman

2005-08-02 11:09:10   What? I don't think it's a gay drink. Mojiiiii-to —DomenicSantangelo

2005-08-02 13:26:51   Daaang, Jim! Take all the fun out of drinking, why don't you?? ; -) —AlphaDog

2005-08-02 13:48:29   Jim, Jim, Jim... Come on, now. Have you EVER been to a bar and had a mixed drink that was exactly the same as it is at another bar, even within the same city or even the same street? The Long Islands at G Street are different from the Long Islands at the Crazy Horse in Nevada City, but they're both Long Islands. Same basic ingredients, same basic premise, same basic taste—same basic drink. PS- Did you smoke any cigars in Cuba? —SummerSong

Hi. If you like the drink from Cuba, you'll love the words of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara from Cuba. The best place to find them, uncensored, is Pathfinder Press. "Don't you know, we're talking about a revolution, sounds like a whisper." Lyrics by Tracy Chapman. The best place to read about Cuba, beside the press from that country and others in the region in Spanish, which can be hard to get, is Pathfinder Press. WayneSchiller

2006-01-06 13:23:10   All these recipes say light rum. Most bars in this town (and as far as I'm aware, most of Cuba) use gold rum. You can buy Plantation brand gold rum made in Trinidad at Nugget Market. You may have to special order it. It makes the best mojitos (in my humble opinion...) —JeffSpeckles

2008-06-04 21:20:19   On Thursday Nights from 6pm to 12am, Bistro 33 has $12 pitchers of Mojitos with 5oz of the Bacardi in each pitcher. —BrianBaliwas

2008-07-10 19:38:31   I used a mixture of mint and basil at a 2:1 ratio, and it was really good. I also prefer the turbinado sugar to syrup, but about half as much suggested. —ifoundthistape