It was a balmy afternoon in June, 1598. Sir Francis Drake and his crew had been at sea for months on end. On this day at the request of the Crown, they were on their way to sack the port of Havana. But there was a problem. Drake’s crew was sick. Very sick. So sick in fact that many of them were dying. It started with nausea, then abdominal cramping, then a yellowish fever took over, and then.. well, another shipmate was lost to the perils of the sea. By this time, the number of causalities was approaching 300. The fleet was in no position to be sacking any city, but Drake was not about to give up. He was a survivor. A survivor with a plan. On the evening of June 4th, the captain sent a handful of crew, one of which was his nephew Richard Hawkins, to row up the coast of Florida, connect with the locals and try to find a remedy for whatever new disease was sweeping the ship. Later, the crew returned with bushels of mint which were added to the crew’s rations. And so, the world’s first mojito was born.
Who wrote this story? I did.
But the legend isn’t mine to tell. This account of the first mojito is captured in Fernando Campoamor’s El Hijo Alegre de la Caña de Azúcar: Biografía del Ron. In his history of rum, Fernando includes a recipe for a drink called “El Draque,” which he says was created by or for Francis Drake due to the tale told above. The recipe for this drink includes, yerba buena (mint), limón (lime), azúcar (sugar) and a type of liquor referred to as ‘aguardiente de caña’. During the lifetime of Francis Drake, aguardiente de caña was the name of a spirit produced from sugar cane in the region of today’s South America. It is believed that this spirit was more than likely, a very crude version of rum.
Is this story true? The legend is backed by the research of cocktail historians Anistasia Brown and Jared Miller. Do I think it’s true? Yes, I do. But even if it isn’t, it is by far one of my favourite stories I have come across in my research so far. Why? Because it gives context to the circumstances under which these early cocktail combinations were created. For me, this highlighted a dimension of early exploration that is relatively ignored in today’s depiction of history. Like any normal person, while researching the archives of this time period, I expected to read about the murders, the raping, the pillaging, the horrors! After all, that is the part of history we are all told. And yes, those things happened. But, that wasn’t all that happened.As I scoured (yes, I scoured, it was during covid and I was in the throes of Melbourne’s notorious lockdown), anyway, as I read through the journals that still exist from “The Golden Age of Piracy,” I kept coming across instances like the one described in the tale of El Draque. It appears sailing ships during this time was a risky business. And for reasons much more boring than what you’d see in any Disney movie. The biggest risks for nautical travel (aside from the actual sea itself) were, disease and famine. See? Boring.
I kept finding entries that described situations where the crew were starving, lost, even sometimes dying, and in desperate need for help. Even in good times, they didn’t always know where they were. They needed information. These needs often resulted in a peaceful, honest, generous exchange of culture with an indigenous population willing to share. I’d say it’s likely these moments occurred not because the explorers were predisposed to be so kind and wonderful, but because they had to be. They were desperate.
What I love about this epiphany is that, just like in the case of Sir Francis Drake, this exchange often became immortalized in a cocktail. I am not just talking about the mojito either. Think about the recipe for grog. Rum, lime juice, sugar, water? Those are the ingredients that make up a daiquiri. Where was the rum from? Well, before rum the main spirit in punch was either aguardiente de caña, arrak, toddy, or any fermented liquid that oozed from sugar cane or tree sap. They were not mysteriously concocted in the cellars of European monasteries. They were from the world’s indigenous tribes, who often used these spirits in ceremonies to welcome outsiders. Because these liquids packed a punch (sorry but I had to), they wound up replacing the typical ships rations of wine or ale.
After learning this, it became impossible for me to believe that the early citrus cocktails were ‘invented’ by bearded men in stiff shirts rummaging behind the bar. Call me dramatic but in all honesty, I see them as vessels of salvation born out of necessity. Think about it. These liquid combinations were inspired by local native traditions, many of which no longer exist. Although these cultures may have been lost to war, famine, disease, and to put it mildly the ongoing pillaging of the west, you can still find a tiny piece of them in the cool sweet citrus of many of today’s favourite cocktails. With all of this in mind, it’s hard to think of a cocktail as just a drink, when it truly is a symbol of the triumph of human connection. And who wouldn’t want to drink to that?
**What do you think of this story? Do you believe Francis Drake and his crew drank the first mojito? Do you think the early explorers and native tribesman might have sometimes had amicable relations? Do you consider punch the blueprint for the cocktail? I want to know! Share your thoughts in the comments/chat below!
Wow. Love a Mojito, now I can tell this story next time I down 1 (or two)…
I find your writings so entertaining and informative. Who would have guessed that the cocktails of today could have been hundreds of years old!
I loved this article! It was so informative. Who knew! You learn something new every day!
Thank you!
Great post. I never really thought of my delicious refreshing mojitos starting out as medicinal life saving tonics!
Glad you liked it!
Amazing 😁 that is a beautiful side to / take on what is generally considered to be a very violent past ^^ and how these connections are helping people have a good time hundreds of year’s later
Isn’t it though? I love reading about these moments.