Mojito

There are many contradictory stories about the origin of the name. Supposedly, the term mojito was derived from the West African word “mojo”. Mojo means “bag filled with magic spices and magic objects”.nAnother origin of the name could also be traced back to the pirate Richard Drake in the 16th century. He was also called “Daque” (dragon) and was feared by Spanish sailors in the Caribbean. The latter was to be treated by the “Draquecito”, the original form of the Mojito, because of his severe stomach pains. Unfortunately, it is still not known whether this drink was able to combat his stomach ache. The drink then quickly spread throughout the Caribbean.

According to reports, the writer Ramon de Palma from Cuba took a drink every day: “Every day at eleven o’clock I take a draquecito, it’s very good for me.” An affection developed between the people and rum cocktails from the Caribbean as far back as colonial times. On all Caribbean islands, the spirit is drunk and loved. Nowadays, this consumption is supported by tourists from all over the world. They usually want to have enjoyed your “real” rum cocktail in the Caribbean once in their life.

As early as the 18th century, several shops were built where alcoholic drinks could be enjoyed. These shops were called “drinking stalls”. Today, these “drinking stalls” are better known as bars or, less glamorously, pubs. Even then, rum evolved away from medicine to anaesthetise patients to a drink and expression of joie de vivre.

Allegedly, the first mojito, which is also what it was called, was served in Havana in 1910. At that time, cool drinks were very popular in the tropical climate of the Caribbean. The Mojito achieved its great breakthrough after Ernest Hemingway ordered the cocktail in his regular bar in Havana and thus made it known to the world.

Until the 1920s, Mojitos in Cuba were still drunk lukewarm without ice cubes. Around 1900, American soldiers drank the drink entirely without ice and detested the lukewarm alcoholic beverage. It was not until the 1920s, when the first refrigerators in which ice cubes could be made could be bought in Cuba, that the triumph of the Mojito cocktail began. Nowadays, ice cubes or crushed ice are indispensable in the well-known rum cocktail. Today, a chilled Mojito tastes best to cocktail connoisseurs and those who would like to become one.

In 1942, Angel Martinez opened a bar in the heart of Havana in Cuba. He didn’t want to continue working as a farmer and sought his fortune in the country’s capital. The bar enjoyed ever-increasing popularity, but was the stark opposite of many other bars: in it, the locals were supposed to feel at home and revive Cuba’s joie de vivre. There was singing, dancing, discussion and debate. And alcoholic drinks were enjoyed. The mojito was the best-selling cocktail in his bar. The former healing potion was drunk here for pure pleasure and is still very much appreciated by the locals today.