1 minute read
The Mojito
COCKTAIL CHRONICLES THE MOJITO
The Mojito to many people, is the perfect rum cocktail. Its refreshing flavours of mint, lime, aromatic - light rum (with a touch of sugar and topped with soda water) is all about summer, the beach and holidays. This cocktail is also one of the most researched drinks with origins that reference literary and history buffs alike, a favourite of Ernest Hemming and said to be named after Sir Francis Drake. Maybe.
Advertisement
Sir Francis Drake, an English naval commander in the 15th century, was the scourge of the Spanish colonies and renowned in the Caribbean. His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards to whom he was known as El Draque. King Philip II was said to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, about £4 million (US$6.5M) by modern standards, for his life.
The drink itself was thought to have evolved from the ‘Draque’ or ‘Drac’, a medicinal drink consumed by pirates across the Caribbean at the same time, made using Grog, a fiery concoction of Aguardiente, lime and stale water, with the inclusion of mint.
References to the drink emerge throughout the centuries, including in 1852 when a cholera epidemic ravaged Santiago de Cuba, tragically taking the lives of Don Facundo’s Bacardí Masso’s children. During the epidemic, Ramon de Paula wrote: “every day at eleven o’clock I consume a little Draque made from aguardiente, and I am doing very well.”
In 1940, commentator Frederick Villoch wrote “… when aguardiente was replaced with rum, the Drake was to be called the Mojito.”
A more contemporary take on the history of the mojito comes from Imbibe magazine’s author, Dave Wondrich, whose thoughts were that: “the Mojito evolved from the Draque sometime after Don Facundo Bacardí set up shop in 1862 when someone up-scaled the aguardiente with white rum”. This is supported by the earliest published recipe of the Mojito, in 1930, in Pedro Chicote’s cocktail book ‘La Ley Mojada’, which uses ‘una copita de BACARDÍ’ (a small glass of BACARDÍ).
Turn to page 70 for BACARDÍ Carta Blanca rum cocktail recipes
