Original Cuban Mojito Recipe: Hierbabuena or Spearmint?

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This post has Cuban Mojito specs and American Mojito specs

My first Mojito was made with spearmint.  The drink was pretty good, but the taste seemed a little bit off.  Maybe it was the wrong rum, I thought, doesn’t mix well with mint.

Weeks later a surprise visitor came from Cuba, and he brought me a souvenir paper napkin, with a Cuban bartender’s handwritten recipe, from the most popular Mojito spot in Havana.

“What’s hierbabuena?” I asked, “Is that spearmint?

“No. The Cuban mint isn’t very minty,” he replied.

I made him a spearmint Mojito, and he said it was not the Cuban taste. I Googled hierbabuena, and ordered some from a Canadian nursery. The mint exudes a citrus-like flavor that comes from the stem, whereas spearmint has a minty flavor from oils in the leaves.

Spearmint smells like chewing gum, but hierbabuena has an herbal fragrance with just a hint of mint. The two different Mojitos taste signficantly different, so the recipes for the Cuban Mojito (hierbabuena) and the American Mojito (spearmint) follow.

Cuban Mojito

  • 1½ ounces Bacardi Superior, Havana Club 3 Anos, or Don Q Cristal white rum
  • 1¼  teaspoons white sugar (or 1 heaping teaspoon or barspoon)
  • 1/3 ounce (2 teaspoons) fresh Key (or Mexican) lime juice
  • 2 sprigs hierbabuena (with the top 4 pairs of leaves, plus 2 inches of stem)
  • 2 ounces and a splash of sparkling mineral water (Topo Chico is recommended)
  • ice cubes

~ Add the hierbabuena (stem end down), sugar, Key lime juice, with a splash of mineral water to a serving glass.  With a muddler or a wooden spoon, press firmly about 12 times on the stems, rather than the leaves. Stir a few times.  Add the 2 ounces of mineral water, then the ice cubes, then the rum.  Serve with a straw, cut off to about 2 inches above the rim of the glass.

If you put 2 teaspoons of sugar in this drink, it’s noticeably sweet. Cubans often add a dash or two of Angostura bitters to this drink, and it’s good!

What Kind of Lime?

Many Cuban and Caribbean cocktails taste better if they are made with Key lime juice. Key limes can be found in Latino markets and most Walmart stores in the United States.

Regular Persian limes aren’t as good in this drink, but they’re good enough.  Make a better taste, if you don’t have Key limes, by mixing 2 parts of lemon juice with 3 parts regular lime juice. Use ¾ ounce of this mix, with 2 teaspoons of sugar and 3 ounces of mineral water.

The Rum

Bacardi Superior is the original rum for this drink, and it’s recommended. Havana Club 3 has a stronger sugarcane taste, and is the preferred rum in Cuba. For a lighter taste, try Don Q Cristal from Puerto Rico. Gold rum will make a slightly sweeter “dirty mojito”.

This hierbabuena recipe is adapted from La Bodeguita del Medio, the famous bar in Old Havana, Cuba. Click on link below to order hierbabuena from Richters herb farm in Canada.

How to Buy Hierbabuena

http://www.richters.com/Web_store/web_store.cgi?product=X4025

Gently muddle the stems, not the leaves.

Spearmint Mojito Recipe

  • 1½ ounces white rum, such as Don Q Cristal or Flor de Caña 4 Extra Dry, or your favorite white rum
  • 8 to 10 thumb-sized spearmint leaves (removed from stems)
  • ¾ ounce regular lime juice (or 4 teaspoons or barspoons)
  • ½ ounce simple syrup or 2 teaspoons white sugar
  • 1 lime wedge
  • 2 ounces sparkling mineral water
  • cubes of ice
  • A neatly-groomed sprig of spearmint, for garnish
  • A dash of Angostura bitters, optional

~ Add the spearmint leaves, sugar or syrup, lime juice, lime wedge, and ½ ounce mineral water in a serving glass.  Do not muddle, but rather stir for a count of 20. Gently pour in the rest of the 2 ounces of sparkling mineral water, gently add ice, then pour in the rum. Serve with a straw that is cut to be 2 inches taller than rim of glass. Garnish with a neatly-groomed sprig of spearmint (optional).

Do not muddle spearmint stems in this drink, because, unlike hierbabuena, the stems have a bitter taste. The leaves also leave a bitter taste when muddled.

Check your local nursery, as some of them are now providing mojito mint.  Note: The Bonnie brand mint being sold as Yerba Buena at Lowe’s and Walmart is spearmint (mentha spicata).  Cuban Mojito Mint is mentha villosa.

Growing Mojito Mint

Like spearmint, hierbabuena (also called hierba buena, yerba buena, or yerbabuena) grows like a weed, and is harder to kill than to grow.  However, there’s a way to get better sprigs.

  • Plant in rich soil that drains well, but retains moisture
  • Use a 10-inch or larger pot.  If planted in a garden, confine the roots, or they will take over the garden.
  • The plants like lots of water, but don’t waterlog them.  Let plants dry out a little before watering again, to develop more flavor.
  • Fertilize every few months.
  • Cut back plants to 10 or 12 inches tall, or it will get spindly and ungle.  I cut back half the plants at time to 2 inches tall, except the sprigs I plan on using.
  • Hierbabuena grows best in the sun or partial shade.  In hot summers, the mint thrives in morning sun or partial shade.  Plant the mint in a pot if you want to move them around.
  • After cutting sprigs, be sure to rinse them before using, or you may get a cute tiny spider or caterpillar in your drink.

If the leaves are chewed up, or have holes, look for little green worms on the undersides of leaves.  Look closely, as they match the color of leaves and stems.

If the leaves on top are curled up, check for tiny aphids, which are tiny and black-colored.  Aphids cluster together at the tip of a few sprigs, so pinch off the affected sprigs and stomp on them. If aphids overwhelm the plant, soak the entire plant with Neem Oil Spray, and then wait for new mint sprigs to pop up before cutting off the sprigs that had been soaked in Neem Oil.

When white spots or streaks appear on leaves, it’s usually tiny spider mites.  Spray plants with vodka, or 1 part alcohol to 4 parts water, during a time when the plants are in the shade.  The spray will also reveal the mite’s tiny webs. Use Neem oil to stop them from breeding.

To get rid of whiteflies without pesticides, place a bright yellow piece of cardstock or plastic coated with motor or mineral oil, and the flies will be attracted to it and get stuck on it. Use Neem Oil to stop them from breeding.

When the roots fill the container, slice down the middle of the dirt with a sharp knife. Remove 1/2 of the root ball and replant it in a separate pot (give it to a friend) or toss it out.  Fill the empty half of the pot with new soil, then water.

If the whole plant looks raggedy, cut it all back to soil level.  It will grow back. In hotter climates, the temperature will get hotter than Havana in July and August.  Keep the plant in a shady area, and cut back sprigs that look too spindly.

In freezing climates, say Chicago, the mint will grow back in the spring, if it’s planted in the ground and not in a pot. You can also keep a plant indoors, in a south-facing window. The plant will not thrive, but it will live until you put it outside in the spring.

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