It's amazing how the public jumps on board the obvious ploy by the Rum distillers to make it popular once again. My bottles of Bacardi both light and dark gather dust. To the point that I quit putting them out at parties, and then along comes the Mojito.
As a former bartender (a notably bad one) I feel for you and remember vividly the dread that comes over a swamped bartender when someone ordered an old fashioned. I can't even imagine a round.
rct
Rum and coke is still extremely popular. I made the mistake of going on a Halloween pub-crawl as Captain Morgan last year and had people constantly asking to get their picture taken with me.
Brian, on Family Guy, drinks Mojitos in a few episodes... maybe you can blame young people ordering them partly on that influence. Until you gave that recipe, I didn't know what the hell one was.
Never had one, but I'm wondering if these work well in pitcher form. I'm incredibly lazy, and the work involved in making a mojito seems only worth it if I can make a lot at one time.
Failing that, I'm just going to have to wait for them to come out with a pre-made version like those Cuervo margaritas you can buy at Costco.
I enjoy watching the trends in public consumption. The Mojito is a pain to make (I don't bartend, but have a large enough stock at home that I mix drinks casually, and it's even annoying there. I always wince when I hear one ordered in a bar...). It also has the misfortune of tasting only slightly less foul than a Mint Julep.
Do people really order Old Fashioneds (Fashioni?)? I went through a phase of trying them, but every time I ordered one at a bar it ended up half filled with tonic water. Was there some memo I missed that says an Old Fashioned must be diluted to the point of being flavorless or was that just the bartenders annoyance at muddling?
Anyhow, if you're starting a petition to get to the next "in drink", I'm totally on board. I have a two pots of mint that I'd really rather not use.
Totally agree Jen. Course I'm a scotch rocks, scotch neat sort of cat. I've had a few dozen mojitos and remain mystified. It’s like sipping corn syrup through a goddamned garden salad. I will be pleased when this goes the way of the flirtini or whatever.
Also…someone should tell “the kids” that rum is among the most likely spirits to elicit a hangover. If you’re like me and drink 10 drinks in a row, you handle hangovers like you handle breathing…but for the youngsters…it seems a hell of a price for a pretty silly beverage.
I would never order a drink requiring that much construction at a busy bar. I consider that downright rude to the bartender and other imbibers. Also, there aren't many bartenders in Atlanta that I would trust to make a drink that complicated. However, I like to mix at home and have gotten pretty competent, so I'm a bit picky when I'm out and paying $10 for a drink I could make for $2 with better liquor.
Great comments from the booziest among you this week... such insight!
Seitz, the Mojito sucks enough on its own. It doesn't need any help; it doesn't need to be easier, because, even when expertly, painstakingly mixed from scratch, it's still a bad drink. Given that, I shudder when thinking of a premix from Costco. Please be careful with that. Seriously. Take great care.
Chris P, people really do order Old Fashioneds, and lots of them. Mui Importante: There's no tonic in an Old Fashioned. It's sugar, orange and cherry muddled with bitters, add ice, add bourbon, top with club soda and garnish with a flag (orange/cherry on a spear). I'm dismayed that you've had a tonicy Old Fashioned. That's just horrible form. It's an excellent cocktail when made perfectly, you know, like the way I make them.
Bad bartenders suck. No wonder Jillian's closed (of local interest only).
Chris Chesterfield... rum is second only to Jagermeister in hangover quotient. Nobody ever told me, so I'm certainly not going to clue in the youngsters. Let 'em learn the hard way, they could use some toughening up (I love sounding like my dad). Fuck 'em, I say (that's all me).
rct... a toast to notably bad bartenders everywhere!
Bad news... guess what drink is the center of Baccardi's new TV ad campaign.
Luckily I have not had to make to many of those foul things. I wish you luck and i do hope its a short lived trend..like the very annoying sex on the beach drink craze once was.
I just found your blog and i think your is fun and being a bartender in cincinnati I look forward to reading your future posts
keep the cold ones coming
I'm liking any drink craze that takes the pressure off of tequila, and hopefully prices will reflect less market pressure...
I love gimlets...
gin, not vodka...
you've heard me say vodka is boring...
so how bout a vodka drink craze?
vodka and cointreau and coconut, how bout that?
is that a drink? how would it taste?
i think if you order a Mojito at a Cuban restaurant that is known specifically for that drink - you're ok. Might i suggest a place like "Cabana" at 60th and 3rd Ave in NYC.
mmm, mmmm, good....
(otherwise, i wholeheartedly concur)
Oh, and on the subject of Jagermeister... I was (briefly) dating a girl from Cologne, Germany, who was laughing at the sight of a buch of frat guys pounding Jagermeister shots. I didn't know much german, and she wasn't fluent in english. She kept saying it was a "home remedy"... I said "yeah, for coughs?"
Finally she got out, with a lot of hilarious gestures, that in Germany, Jagermeister is home remedy laxative.
Wade, you want a vodka craze? It's called the Cosmo, Sex and the City. I guess it's rum's turn, but why can't we just limit it to Captain & Coke?
cov, I saw the Bacardi commercial tonight, and I was horrified. Doesn't German Jäg have codeine in it, hence the cough syrup tag? Or is that an urban legend? Ich habe keine Ahnung.
What's that drink that has basil in it?
waaaaa...I'm gonna say it, I LOVE MOJITOS!!!
I like a sweet and light drink. Sue me. Any suggestions of similar drinks that would not make a bartender ponder spitting in your drink?
So sad about this post...
But I do understand the Sex in the City/Cosmo disgust. blech.
Actually, Jagermeister is kind of like German Absinthe, in that, originally, both contained wormwood and anis, which is why it was for the pooh pooh belly.
To hell with the mojito. If you want a better alternative, you can whip up a caiparhinia and use light rum instead of Cachaça. It's not quite the same -- but after a buddy of mine sent me a bottle of the stuff from Brazil, I've been downing those like nobody's business...
And yeah, I'm new here. 
Jager's actually much more recent than that - first produced in 1935. Though it's got more than 50 different herbs in it, according to the corporation that produces it the essential oils have never included enough wormwood to have measurable levels of thujone, and it's never contained opiates.
The even better rumor in Europe is that the secret ingredient is elk blood.
The urban legends about that have definitely been good for their sales though!
I love Mojitos!!! BUT, ONLY under certain conditions. (which do NOT include a cruise, or Cabo, or any other touristy place.) I drink them when my Cuban friends make them for me, or the rare occasions when I get to go to a REAL Cuban restaurant. I agree with you at least to the point that I don't like people ordering something when they have no idea of the culture behind it and they only want to be trendy. Outside of Latin America and Miami I have only had an actually GOOD Mojito at 2 places....which is My reason for seldomly ordering them.
OK, OK, Mojito lovers. I can see where sipping one on a palmy, balmy patio in a Cuban restaurant might be enjoyable. Maybe. It's probably dark, and people can't see the mint leaves on your teeth. I'd rather have a rum and coke with a lime (Cuba Libre!), but that's just me.
And cov... I finally saw the commercial. The Bacardi ad executives are evil, bad people. Very bad.
Hmmm. I wonder what the difference is, then?
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