National Mojito Day 2026
food drinkSunday, July 11, 2027
299 days from today · next occurrence
About National Mojito Day
National Mojito Day raises a glass on July 11 to Cuba's most famous cocktail. The mojito's magic is its balance: crisp white rum, fresh lime juice, sugar, fragrant mint, and a splash of soda water over crushed ice. Each element plays a role, with the mint's aroma rising through the fizz and the lime cutting through the sweetness, which explains why the drink has outlasted a century of cocktail fashions.
The mojito carries genuine literary pedigree. Ernest Hemingway famously drank them at Havana's La Bodeguita del Medio, and his endorsement turned the bar into a pilgrimage site for travelers. James Bond even orders one in a later novel, and the drink became a global bar menu staple after the 2000s cocktail revival.
Making a proper mojito at home is satisfyingly simple. Gently muddle mint leaves with sugar to release their oils without shredding them, add lime juice and rum, fill the glass with crushed ice, and top with soda water. The result is summer in a highball: light, tart, herbaceous, and dangerously easy to enjoy on a July afternoon.
When is National Mojito Day?
| Year | Date | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | July 11, 2026 | Saturday |
| 2027 | July 11, 2027 | Sunday |
| 2028 | July 11, 2028 | Tuesday |
| 2029 | July 11, 2029 | Wednesday |
| 2030 | July 11, 2030 | Thursday |
History of National Mojito Day
The mojito's ancestry is contested, as most cocktail histories are. One popular story traces it to a sixteenth-century Havana drink called El Draque, named for English privateer Sir Francis Drake, made with aguardiente, lime, sugar, and mint as a remedy for scurvy and seasickness. When rum replaced the rougher aguardiente, the modern mojito took shape in Cuba. The drink traveled north with Cuban bartenders and expats, and by the twentieth century it was firmly attached to Havana's bar culture, especially La Bodeguita del Medio, which still displays Hemingway's reputed signature behind the bar. The mojito entered mainstream American consciousness in the 1980s and exploded worldwide in the early 2000s, aided by renewed interest in classic cocktails and the film Die Another Day, in which James Bond orders one. National Mojito Day arrived as part of the wave of food-and-drink holidays that give summer its calendar, landing in mid-July when muddled mint is at its freshest.
How to Celebrate National Mojito Day
- Muddle fresh mint with sugar and lime, then add rum, crushed ice, and soda for a homemade mojito.
- Try a variation such as a strawberry, coconut, or dark-rum mojito.
- Visit a Cuban restaurant or cocktail bar known for the classic recipe.
- Plant a pot of mint on the balcony so summer drinks are always one snip away.
- Make a virgin mojito with mint, lime, sugar, and soda so everyone can toast.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is National Mojito Day?
- National Mojito Day falls every year on July 11, in the heart of the Northern Hemisphere's mint-and-lime season.
- Is National Mojito Day a public holiday?
- No, it is a food-and-drink observance rather than a public holiday. Bars and restaurants may run specials, but everyday schedules stay the same.
- How do people celebrate National Mojito Day?
- Cocktail fans celebrate by mixing mojitos at home, hunting down the most authentic version in town, and experimenting with fruity variations. Bars often offer discounts, and recipe bloggers flood feeds with muddled-mint tutorials.
- What are the five ingredients of a classic mojito?
- White rum, lime juice, sugar, fresh mint, and soda water, served over crushed ice. Purists insist on muddling the mint gently rather than crushing it.