Mojito

A mojito

Another mojito

A mojito is a kind of cocktail. It is from Cuba originally. It is made of rum, sugar, lime juice, sparkling water and mint. It usually contains about 10 percent alcohol. The combination of sweetness, sour citrus and mint flavour is intended to complement the rum. It is popular drink in hot weather.

When making a mojito, lime juice is added to sugar and mint leaves. The mixture is then gently mashed together. The mint leaves should only be bruised to release the essential oils; they should not be torn apart. Then rum is added. The mixture is then stirred to dissolve the sugar. Finally, ice cubes and sparkling water are added in the top of the drink. Mint leaves and lime wedges are used to garnish the glass.

There are several stories about how the mojito was invented. One story says that it is similar to a 19th-century drink called "El Draque", after Francis Drake. This drink is said to have been given to the crew of Drake's ships when they came to Cuba in the 16th century. Many in the crew were suffering from dysentery and scurvy. They were told that the Native Americans had remedies for various tropical illnesses. They went ashore on Cuba and were given ingredients for a remedy: a kind of rum, lime, sugarcane syrup and mint. While this drink was not called a mojito at this time, it is the same combination of these ingredients.