Mojito local tropical ingredients: lime, sugarcane juice, and mint. Lime juice on its own would have significantly prevented scurvy and dysentery, and tafia/rum was soon added as it became widely available to the British (ca. 1650). Mint, lime and sugar were also helpful in hiding the harsh taste of this spirit. While this drink was not called a Mojito at this time, it was the original combination of these ingredients. Some historians contend that African slaves who worked in the Cuban sugar cane fields during the 19th century were instrumental in the cocktail's origin. Guarapo, the sugar cane juice often used
Gimlet (cocktail) A similar lime juice cocktail using rum instead of vodka or gin is the daiquiri. David A. Embury gave a gimlet recipe (called a Gin Sour) in "The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks" (3rd Ed., 1958), calling for an 8:2:1 gin/lime (or lemon) juice/simple syrup ratio plus garnish. Eric Felten essentially repeated this in his "How's Your Drink" column in "The Wall Street Journal" Weekend Edition of August 4, 2006: William L. Hamilton gave this recipe in his "Shaken and Stirred" column in "The New York Times" on September 15, 2002: A gimlet served at the Fifty Seven Fifty Seven