Mojito (pronounced mo-HEE-toe),
one of Cuba’s oldest cocktails, comes
from the African word mojo, which
means to place a little spell.
Bacardi traces the drink’s roots to
1586, when Francis Drake and his
pirates tried to sack Havana for its
gold. While the invasion was
unsuccessful, Drake’s associate,
Richard Drake, was said to have
invented a mojito like cocktail known
as El Draque made with aguardiente
(a crude forerunner of rum), sugar,
lime and mint. Early on, it was
consumed for medicinal purposes.