Cuban Mojito with Fresh Muddled Mint, Hand-Squeezed Lime, Raw Cane Sugar and Sparkling Water

Select your glass: a highball glass or Collins glass, 12-14 oz capacity. Rinse it with cold water to chill it slightly.

Ingredients

• 2 oz white rum (a Cuban-style rum like Bacardi Superior or Havana Club 3-year)
• 1 oz fresh lime juice (from about 1.5 limes — never bottled)
• 2 tsp raw cane sugar (turbinado) or white sugar
• 10-12 fresh mint leaves (spearmint preferred)
• 2 oz club soda or sparkling water
• Ice (crushed ice is traditional; large cubes also work)
• For garnish:
• Fresh mint sprig
• Lime wheel
• Bamboo straw

Instructions

1. Select your glass: a highball glass or Collins glass, 12-14 oz capacity. Rinse it with cold water to chill it slightly.
2. Muddle with care: place the mint leaves and sugar in the bottom of the glass. Add the fresh lime juice. Muddling technique matters enormously — press and twist the mint gently 4-5 times to release the oils and bruise the leaves. Do NOT shred or pulverize the mint — over-muddling releases bitter chlorophyll from the stems. You want fragrant, not bitter.
3. Add the rum: pour 2 oz white rum over the muddled mint and sugar. Stir briefly to dissolve the sugar — you should see no granules at the bottom.
4. Fill with ice: pack crushed ice all the way to the top of the glass. Crushed ice chills the drink rapidly and creates the proper dilution as you sip.
5. Top with club soda: pour 2 oz over the ice, letting it cascade down through the layers. The carbonation will gently stir everything together.
6. Give one final gentle stir — just enough to lift the mint from the bottom.
7. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig (slap it against your palm first to wake up the oils) and a lime wheel on the rim.
8. The mojito was born in Havana and became legendary at La Bodeguita del Medio, where Ernest Hemingway reportedly drank them daily. Three ingredients — mint, lime, rum — in perfect balance: simple, cooling, and utterly Cuban.