The recipe
for your table
Add the sugar and lime juice to the glass and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Slap the mint leaves between your hands and gently press them into the glass - do not crush them, as that makes them bitter.
Fill the glass with crushed ice and pour the rum over it; stir briefly.
Top with soda water, another layer of ice and a generous sprig of mint.
The story
The Mojito's roots lie in sixteenth-century Cuba, where sailors drank a rough mixture of aguardiente, lime and mint - the 'Draque', named after privateer Francis Drake. As rum became more refined, so did the drink, and somewhere in Havana it acquired the name Mojito, possibly from 'mojo', the Cuban lime sauce. Bar La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana claims the modern version, helped by a (probably fabricated) Hemingway signature on the wall. True or not: the Mojito became Cuba's calling card and is now firmly established everywhere.
The right glass
The Mojito is a layered drink - sugar, mint, ice, rum, bubbles - so it needs height. A highball glass of 36 to 55 cl is ideal: tall enough for all the layers of crushed ice and sturdy enough for muddling. Choose a glass with a thick base, so you can press down without worry. A lightly textured glass gives the whole drink a Cuban vintage look. Tall glasses with a thick base for muddling can be found in our mojito glasses.
Bormioli Rocco Diamond Highball Glass 47 cl (6 pieces)
Duralex Picardie Highball Glass 36 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets — together € 40,90.
The right tools
For a Mojito, besides the glass, you use a bar spoon for stirring, a muddler, a jigger for precise measuring, and a citrus juicer. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glassware set (our choice 01) + 4 bar tools — together € 78,75.
Variations & twists
The Royal Mojito uses champagne instead of soda water, while the Dirty Mojito gets a pour of dark rum as a float. With strawberry or passion fruit, you can make fruit variations that work wonderfully at parties. And the Virgin Mojito proves that the recipe holds up even without rum. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Servingtip
Serve with a straw and a long bar spoon, so guests can stir the sugar from the bottom. Never crush the mint: muddling releases aroma, while tearing it creates bitterness.
Virgin Mojito: the same taste, 0.0
If you simply leave out the 4.5 cl white rum, you end up with a refreshing lemonade that is mainly sweet. It works better to replace the rum with 4.5 cl non-alcoholic white rum, or with 3 cl cold green tea and half a teaspoon of lime zest; this provides the slightly bitter structure normally supplied by the rum. Keep the 3 cl fresh lime juice and two teaspoons of cane sugar, and muddle the mint in exactly the same way. Our site also features the Virgin Mojito as a separate recipe.
Strawberry Mojito and other fruit versions
Muddle three ripe strawberries with the cane sugar and lime juice before adding the mint, and leave the rest of the recipe unchanged. Do not add more, as too much pulp makes the glass cloudy and clogs the straw. Passion fruit works just as well: the pulp from half a fruit is enough. With raspberries or blackberries, it is worth straining the mixture before topping it up. Do not increase the sugar, even with sour fruits, as the fruit brings its own sweetness.
Mojito for a group from the pitcher
For six glasses, mix 27 cl white rum, 18 cl fresh lime juice and twelve teaspoons of cane sugar in a one-and-a-half-litre jug and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add fifty mint leaves, press them lightly and chill the jug for an hour. Strain out the mint afterwards, otherwise the mixture will become bitter. Fill the glasses with crushed ice when serving, pour until two-thirds full and top each glass with approximately 4 cl of soda water. Insert fresh mint into the glass itself.
Muddling without destroying the mint
The most common mistake is crushing the mint. Mint oil is on the surface of the leaf and is released with light pressure; the bitter compounds are in the veins and are released only when you twist and wring. Place the leaves on the cane sugar and lime juice, press straight down two or three times, then stop. The sugar crystals act as an abrasive, which is exactly why cane sugar works better than syrup. If you see black flecks in the glass, you've gone too far.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly goes into a Mojito?
A Mojito contains 4.5 cl white rum, 3 cl fresh lime juice, 2 teaspoons of cane sugar, 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves, soda water and crushed ice. First dissolve the sugar in the lime juice; gently press the mint only, because crushing it makes the cocktail bitter.
How do I make the perfect Mojito?
First dissolve the cane sugar in the lime juice, gently press the mint, fill the glass with crushed ice and pour the rum over it. Top with soda water and a generous sprig of mint. Use a tall glass with a thick base that you can press ingredients in; see our highball glasses.
How do I make an original Mojito?
The Cuban base is white rum, fresh lime juice, cane sugar, mint and soda water, built in the glass rather than shaken. Don't use ready-made syrup or lime concentrate, and just clap the mint briefly between your hands, exactly as they do in Havana.
How do you make a Mojito without alcohol?
Leave out the rum and top up with extra soda water or sparkling lime water; the rest of the recipe remains unchanged. Sugar, lime, mint and plenty of crushed ice keep the character fully intact. You can find our full recipe on the Virgin Mojito page.
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