Travel episodes · July 28, 2022

In Search of the Best Mojitos in Miami

We left the kids with a sitter so we could drink our way through town in search of the best Mojito this side of Havana.

The classic mojito is a refreshing, minty, rum-and-lime-based cocktail invented centuries ago in Cuba. But we’re not in Cuba; we’re in the U.S.—and no place in the U.S. is more Cuban than the tiny village of Miami, Florida. So we left the kids with a sitter so we could drink our way through town in search of the best Mojito this side of Havana. It’s a rough mission, but we’re taking one for the team. So let’s start devouring—mojitos.

A classic mojito consists of white rum, sugar (typically sugar cane juice or simple syrup), muddled mint, fresh lime juice, and soda water. And with such a simple recipe, you’d think it would be hard to screw up, but that’s not the case. It’s all about the best ingredients and the ideal ratios.

By the way, our favorite mojito prior to this tour was in a little place in Seaside, Florida called Great Southern. It’s their signature drink and they have a bunch of flavors like peach, strawberry, pineapple, and others. But they’re not just adding a shot of schnapps for these. The peach, for example, has half of a muddled southern peach in there. So the flavors are real, fresh, and incredible.

While Havana is the birthplace of the mojito, its exact origin is still the subject of debate. It’s known that the local South American Indians had remedies for various tropical illnesses, so a small boarding party went ashore on Cuba and came back with ingredients for an effective medicine.

Another theory is that it was invented by Sir Francis Drake. That cocktail, called “El Draque” was made with brandy. And although it wasn’t called a mojito, it was the original combination of these ingredients.

By the way, you don’t have to come all the way to this side of the planet to satisfy your mojito fix. an international market research company found that in 2016 the mojito was the most popular cocktail in Britain and France.

Contents:

0:00 Intro
0:24 Miami Mojito Company
2:29 Old’s Havana
4:37 Ball and Chain
7:20 Cafe La Trova
9:51 Terras
12:36 Making Mojitos at Home