MOVER OVER MARTINI, IT'S MOJITO TIME

Published: July 19, 2003
Section: DAILY BREAK, page E1
Source: DEBORAH MARKHAM THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
© 2003- Landmark Communications Inc

(Each Saturday this summer in The Daily Break we'll explore an aspect of Hampton Roads' burgeoning night life. Next week: restaurant owner/bartender Karl Dornemann.)

THE INNOCENTLY refreshing taste of Mojito (pronounced: moe-hee-toe) could make one think repeating its name is awfully poetic: Moe-hee-toe.

Moe-heeee-toe.

Moe-he-he-he-toe.

Ask a Hampton Roads bartender, and it's likely he or she would agree that the Cuban cocktail should be downed with slow respect.

"It's so sweet you don't even notice how much you have had," says Bryan Hughes, 31, bar manager at Bodega on Norfolk's Granby Street. "It kind of comes up on you when you aren't looking."

Five bartenders offered their take on the drink, and that's about the only thing they agreed upon.

It's a simple concoction of mint and lime mashed in sugar, club soda and four to five counts of white rum - that's a shot and a half in bartender speak. Still, each bartender has his or her own way of making the minty cousin of the martini.

Created during the mid-19th century, the Mojito became most popular in Cuba during the 1920s. According to some accounts, including the Bacardi Web site, it became "the national drink of Cuba." It grew more popular than the more common Cuba Libre and Daiquiri.

In his time, the original "Old Man of the Sea," Ernest Hemingway, lauded Mojitos. He favored the sugarless variety made with Gustos Maracino, a Cuban cherry liqueur, and grapefruit zest. Apparently, Papa couldn't digest raw sugar, but white rum was a different matter.

Over the years, the mass sale of the the drink has flamed and cooled several times. Recently, it has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity.

Last year, a Los Angeles Times wine columnist wrote that Mojito fever swelled in Miami a few years ago. Then the craving crawled up the coast, trickled across the country and even slipped into pop culture.

It even made a guest appearance in the last 007 flick, "Die Another Day."

When Halle Berry's character, Jinx, slinks out of the ocean for her first civil introduction to Mr. Bond, he offers her a drink.

"Mojito?" he says in his suave British spy accent.

So many people remember the scene that local bartenders say they get requests for the "new James Bond drink" all the time. So much for his shaken martini.

More than a few patrons make reference to the movie at Havana in Virginia Beach. Probably because the Cuban-themed restaurant gave the Mojito its own section in the menu.

The drink comes in five flavors that change every year, says Liz Lewis, 36, a bartender at Havana for five years. This year, the flavors include coconut, raspberry, vanilla, watermelon and the original, which a mainstay on the menu.

Fresh watermelon puree is used in the watermelon Mojito, and flavored Bacardi rum is used in the raspberry, vanilla and original flavors.
Lewis likes to keep the drink "balanced," not too sweet and not too minty.

Kevin Dilley, 53, a self-proclaimed Archie Bunker-like beer man, tasted his first Mojito a few Tuesdays ago.

"There's no sickly sweet aftertaste. It's a nice clean finish," he said. "This is excellent, Liz. I give it two thumbs up."

She pours about a three-count of Bacardi Limon in Havana's original Mojito. The white rum doesn't overpower the mint and sugar. She keeps the drink smooth.

Bacardi's lemon-flavored white rum is used by many area bartenders, including Hughes, the bar manager at Bodega.

He uses fresh mint grown in an employee's yard. He also tops the drink with a spritz of Sprite. Bartender Lewis calls the spritz a no-no even though the soda makes the drink a little sweeter.

Although they disagree on details, the two bartenders agree on one ingredient - simple sugar. They both also like to crush the mint and lime in simple sugar, basically sugar dissolved in boiling water, rather than granulated sugar.

"Some people use straight sugar," says Hughes. "That just tears up the mint. You end up with little pieces of mint in your mouth and teeth."

That's if all the sugar doesn't decay your teeth first. Hughes uses turbinado sugar as a base in Bodega's simple sugar. Lewis dissolves regular sugar in water.

Sissy Deaton, 33, a bartender at Colley Cantina in Norfolk's Ghent district, adds a specially made simple sugar with extra lime juice. The lime in her mixture is stronger than the others, and the sweetness is subdued.

She rips the mint, so patrons might want a string of dental floss.

A.J. Guerrero, bartender at La Boca Restaurant & Tapas Bar, a tango bar in Virginia Beach, adds a chopped mint leaf and stem. Francis Rabanes, 33, the bar's owner, just wrings the mint leaves and stem over the top of the drink.

La Boca's Mojito features Aristocrat white rum, which has its own aftertaste. However, the mint, lime and club soda keep La Boca's version refreshing.

Independently owned local restaurants have a corner on the Mojito market, although national franchises, such as Outback Steakhouse, have gotten into the Mojito-making act, too.

About a year ago, Outback started selling a mango-flavored version of the Cuban delight called "Tazmango Mojito."

Rob Watson, 21, who has worked three years at the Outback at Chesapeake Square Mall, makes the drink without bruising the mint. He says Outback has stopped muddling mint leaves because customers complained it was "too minty."

The uncrushed mint really mellows the mint zest. The mango is the dominant flavor, and the drink tastes as sweet as corn syrup.

No matter how they make it, during these hot summer days, it's still a refreshing drink that has many people repeating its name, likely the real inspiration for its newly found popularity.

Reach Deborah Markham at 446-2033 or send e-mail to [email protected]

Description of illustration(s):
ABOVE: JUDY MYAK...
GRAPHIC
CUBAN EMBASSY MOJITO RECIPE
[For a complete copy, see microfilm for this date.]
WHERE TO TRY ONE
[For a complete copy, see microfilm for this date.]

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