Mojito.

“I’m a fiend for a Mojito” 
Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) 
Miami Vice, 2006

The original series of Miami Vice (1984-1989) blew my sixteen-year-old mind. In 2006, the film version invited us back into the stylised world Michael Mann created. For me, the best sequence is when Sonny (Colin Farrell) says, “I’m a fiend for a Mojito,” before jumping in his powerboat with Isabella (Gong Li) and piloting the monster boat to Havana – all to the soundtrack of Moby's “One of these Mornings” (originally by Patti LaBelle). That scene was all the inspiration I needed to start drinking this incredible summer cocktail.

As with so many cocktails, the Mojito has various origin stories. In the 1500s, Sir Francis Drake landed in Havana to relieve the city of its gold. But the invasion was a failure. His crew were suffering from dysentery and scurvy. Knowing that the local South American Indians had remedies for many diseases, a small party went ashore to Cuba. They returned with the ingredients for a medicine: aguarediente de cana, mint leaves and the juices from sugar cane and limes. The lime content would certainly have helped with the scurvy, as it is caused by a vitamin C deficiency. As for the dysentery, maybe not. Whatever really happened, a cocktail named “El Draque” (supposedly after Drake himself) that used very similar ingredients was known to be popular in Cuba some time later.

As for today’s Mojito, there’s a Havana bar that Isabella mentions to Sonny in the Miami Vice film, called "La Bodeguita del Medio”. Once frequented by Ernest Hemingway, it claims to be origin of the drink. But another bar, “Sloppy Joe’s,” also claims to have served the drink first in 1928, offering their interpretation to the American tourists who flocked to Cuba to escape Prohibition.

But, as ever, who cares who invented it. Let's just celebrate the fact that someone did.

This recipe is from “Spirited” by Adrienne Stillman and published by Phaidon.

8-10 mint leaves
2-3 sprigs of mint to garnish
30ml sugar syrup
60ml white rum
22ml fresh lime juice
Club soda

Alternatively:

Large handful of mint
Mint sprigs to garnish
Pony shot sugar syrup
Double shot white rum
Pony shot fresh lime juice
Forget the Club Soda

Kit

Jigger - long end is a Jigger shot or single measure, short end is called a Pony shot

Muddler

Bar spoon or stirrer 

We’ve used the Norlan Heavy Rauk tumbler but traditionally a Mojito is served in a Collins glass

Recipe Sciroppa di zucchero (sugar syrup)

The recipe for the sugar syrup is from the book of the restaurant Brutto.

100ml water
200g caster sugar

Place water and sugar into saucepan on medium heat. Watch and stir until the sugar dissolves. Do not boil. This process doesn’t take long.

Place the pan to one side and allow to cool completely. Using the sterilised funnel and bottle, pour the syrup into the bottle and seal, then place in the fridge. It keeps for several weeks. 

Recipe for Mojito

Using the muddler to muddle the mint and syrup in a glass.
Add the rum and lime juice
Fill half the glass with crushed ice.
Stir with bar spoon/stirrer
Add a small amount of club soda (If you want to)
Top up with more crushed ice
Garnish with mint sprigs

Enjoy!