Is There A Difference Between A Mojito And A Cuban Mojito?

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Rum, carbonated water, sugar, muddled mint, and lime, iced down to drink from a highball glass and topped with more mint — a mojito is the taste of summer. Like every cocktail, there are a hundred remixes of the old classic. When recipes get passed around and altered over the years, drink history can get a bit muddled. There's one term popping up that's left some folks confused: "Cuban mojito." 

Ordering it from a bartender might get you a look because it's not a universal term. To some, "Cuban mojito" might mean mixing the cocktail recipe using Cuban white rum. However, the mojito is an inherently Cuban invention, so others might interpret "Cuban mojito" as a redundancy. To get a full understanding of the term, it's best to explore the history.

The first written record of a mojito recipe appeared in a 1932 copy of "Sloppy Joe's Bar Cocktails Manual." The book detailed cocktail recipes from the famous Sloppy Joe's Bar in Havana, Cuba, which is believed to be the birthplace of this iconic drink. The original recipe consisted of lime, mint, sugar, seltzer water, and a Cuban brand of rum.

We don't all have a recipe book from Havana's beloved Sloppy Joe's Bar on deck. Ingredients, measurements, and preparation order can all fall to interpretation after almost a century. Even Alton Brown has his own quicker, mintier version of a mojito. Brazil has a nearly identical drink called the caipirinha, which is one of Martha Stewart's favorite cocktails. The main difference is that caipirinha is made with one specific type of sugarcane-derived spirit, while the mojito is made with another. A truly Brazilian caipirinha must have cachaça, and a truly Cuban mojito must have some sort of rum.

One could argue that a drink is only a Cuban mojito if it's made with rum from Cuba, a historical farming hub for the sugarcane its rum is made from. The best part is that you don't have to look very far to find a bottle of Cuban rum. In fact, you can grab the exact same liquor used in the Sloppy Joe's manual from 1932 — the original mojito recipe just called for using Bacardi. Bacardi was originally founded in Cuba, though it's made elsewhere now. But you can find it at nearly any bar or liquor store. Getting a taste of history has never been easier.