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Four Havana club glasses filled with mojitos garnished with mint.
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5 from 4 votes

Real Mojito Recipe

Straight from Cuba, this Mojito recipe is 100% authentic. Learn the real ingredients from Cuban bartenders in Havana. And what makes these famous cocktails the real deal! Classic mojitos are the very essence of beach cocktails. Rum drinkers around the world have treasured them for centuries. These bar drinks have quenched thirsty travelers and people on vacation for decades. The recipe card will scale up to make batch cocktails for a pitcher of mojitos!
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks & Cocktails
Cuisine: Cuban
Keyword: beach cocktails, cuban mojitos, Cuban recipe, mojito recipe, mojitos, Summer cocktails, tropical drinks
Servings: 1
Calories: 144kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons white cane sugar
  • ½ whole lime juice only
  • 1 whole long mint sprig Mojito mint or Yerba Buena
  • 1.5 ounces white rum Good US or Puerto Rican brand, Havana Club 3 year white rum
  • 3 drops aromatic bitters Angostura brand is best
  • 6 ounces sparkling water
  • wooden muddler small wooden spoons work fine

Instructions

  • In each glass: add 2 teaspoons of white cane sugar and the juice of half a lime. In Cuba, they don't place the lime into the glass, just the lime juice!
  • Place one long mint stem into each glass. Now muddle, simply push down and twist the bottom of the mint stems. NOT THE LEAVES into the sugar and lime juice. This way, you don't get a strong bitter taste when you over-muddle the mint leaves, AND they stay pretty and green not brown and bruised!
  • Next, add 1- 2 shots of good white rum, and 3 drops of aromatic bitters.
  • Add few ice cubes, in Cuba they don't add lots of ice because it is not commonly used, pour in sparkling water, add mint garnish, stir, and sip away!

Notes

Top Secrets For Cuban Mojitos

The first secret to the best mojito recipes is to use aromatic bitters! It balances out the sweetness of the mint and sugar. The brand I prefer is Angostura, a product from the Caribbean islands that you can easily find online, and in stores US and globally.

Secondly, crush the mint stem. Not the mint leaves.  Normally mudding results in brown smashed mint leaves in the drink which is not pretty or tasty.

And finally, there is no cocktail shaker needed to shake this drink. Also, no simple syrup, or slices of lime in a real mojito cocktail!

Cuban Rum

Havana Club - El Ron De Cuba, is not currently available in the US due to the import embargo. You can find some good options like Havana Club - Puerto Rico available at specialty liquor stores. Buy a 3 year aged white rum, a yellow rum is fine too. Just avoid dark spiced rum. 

Mint Growing Tip

 Plant Mojito Mint or Yerba Buena Mint in a pot in your garden, mint sends runners and will run everywhere in your garden and you don't want that.

Nutrition

Calories: 144kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 0.04g | Fat: 0.04g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 37mg | Potassium: 11mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 43IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.1mg