Mojito Cocktail History
Words by Simon Difford
While the exact origins of the Mojito cocktail and its name are lost in time, some trace it back to 1586 and a medicinal drink named after Sir Francis Drake.
Drake was one of a band of privateers sponsored by England's Queen Elizabeth I to plunder Spanish cities in the New World and seize their riches. In 1586, he dropped anchor off the Cuban shore, already with a cargo of Spanish treasure valued at twice the Queen's annual income, but he was after more.
King Philip II of Spain had warned his governor in Cuba of Drake's approach and of his intentions to take the Aztec gold stored in the city's royal treasury. Havana was well-prepared, but everyone was amazed when, after several days of waiting, Captain Drake sailed away from the richest port in the West Indies after firing only a few shots.
Drake left Havana and its gold intact, but his visit was a major event, something perhaps worthy of naming a drink after. That's the theory behind the Draque (Drake, Drak, or Drac), a drink consisting of aguardiente de caña (a crude cane spirit that was the forerunner of rum), sugar, lime and mint.
Some say the Draque was not originally Cuban, and it was invented on board Drake's ship, which carried mint to mix with cane spirit, sugar and lime to make a drink to relieve fever and colds. It's certain that in Cuba, the Draque was drunk for its perceived medicinal qualities, and in 1833, during one of the worst cholera epidemics ever to hit Havana, the author Ramón de Paula wrote, "Every day at eleven o'clock I consume a little Drake made from aguardiente, and I am doing very well."
The drink stayed that way until the mid-1800s. Then, when Don Facundo Bacardi Massó established the Bacardi Company, the original recipe for the Draque changed. As Frederick Villoch described in 1940, "...when aguardiente was replaced with rum, the Drake was to be called a Mojito." Bacardi may be behind swapping out the traditional aguardiente in the Draque to create the Mojito. The brand promoted the Mojito in its early advertising.
However, some maintain Americans visiting Cuba's thriving bar culture between the wars, and especially during Prohibition, introduced the locals to the Mint Julep, and it was this, not the development of the Draque, that led to the Mojito.
Urban myth credits La Bodeguita del Medio bar in Havana with making the first Mojito, and this is also apparently where Ernest Hemingway went for his, evidenced by a framed hand-written note written and signed by Hemingway hanging in the bar. It reads, "My Mojito in La Bodeguita My Daiquiri in El Floridita." However, none of his books mention either the Mojito or La Bodeguita, nor any letter or other piece of writing attributed to Hemingway.
Etymology
The origins of the name 'Mojito' are equally misty. Some say it comes from 'mojar', a Spanish verb suggesting wetness. Others, who claim the cocktail was created by slaves brought to Cuba to labour in its sugarcane fields, say it comes from the African word 'mojo', meaning to place a spell due to the drink's perceived medicinal value.
Earliest published recipes
The first known recipe for the Mojito appears under the name "Mojo Criollo" in the 1927 El Arte De Hacer un Cocktail y Algo Más. Written in Spanish, this book was published in Cuba by the brewing company Cervecera International.
The cocktail then appears as "Mojo de Ron" in Juan A. Lasa's 1929 Libro de Cocktail – The Cocktail Book, which, as the dual language name suggests, has recipes in Spanish followed by the same recipes in English.
The cocktail appears in yet another book from the period, the 1931 Cuban Cookery – gastronomic secrets of the tropics with an appendix on Cuban drinks, as a "Rum Cocktail (Cuban mojo)".
RUM COCKTAIL. (Cuban mojo).
Cuban Cookery – gastronomic secrets of the tropics with an appendix on Cuban drinks, 1931
In medium size glass put:
One teaspoon sugar
Juice and rind of a green lime
Sprig of mint
One jigger Bacardi Rum
Several pieces of ice
Fill glass with soda water. Serve with long spoon.
The Mojito first appears under the name we recognise today in Sloppy Joe's Bar Season 1931-32 souvenir menu. Interestingly, the cocktail is listed in both the "Bacardi Drinks" rum section and the "Gordon Dry Gin Cocktails" section with the appropriate spirit in each recipe. The gin version also appears in the 1931 Cuban Cookery above. Hence, Mojito was a cocktail that could be based on various spirits, not just rum.
MOJITO
Sloppy Joe's Bar Season 1931-32
1 Teaspoon of sugar.
One half of a Lemon
1 Part of Rum.
Seltzer water.
Serve in a High Ball glass with cracked ice.
