Rise of the Fauxjito?

The Miami Herald goes a bit postmodern today with an article that's both a celebration of the mojito's coming of age as well as its obituary.

The paper reports that the mojito – no surprise – is this summer's "it drink." Again. Or still. Whatever. (From a posting on Gawker: "While a big fan of the Mojito, I must agree that its day has come and gone." That was in the summer of 2003.)

The Herald reports that mojitos, which first surfaced in Miami about a decade ago, have finally crossed the Strip Mall Rubicon to become part of mass market chain-restaurant culture. TGIFriday's finally gave in and added mojitos to its menu this month. Bacardi has gone heavy on mojito advertising. (Goodbye, Mr. Bacardi and Coke.) Even the Shorty Pants Lounge in Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., has gone from selling about five to 100 in a busy weekend.

While I love mojitos, I don't see this as an unalloyed good thing – ubiquitous pre-mixes can't far behind. Then perhaps little faux mint leaves manufactured of some scented polymer in China. Bartenders tend to dislike the labor and dishwashers the wilted mint, which could drive the transition to the Fauxjito. The Herald notes some handwriting on the wall:

''Not a lot of consumers are going to make the effort and take the time to make an authentic mojito,'' said Paul Nardone, chief executive of Stirrings, a Massachusetts company that makes the mojito mix for Williams-Sonoma, Delta and its own label. "It's a very intimidating drink. We solve the problem for a lot of people.'

First of all, an intimidating drink? The problem? I guess hearing the little mint leaves scream for mercy during the muddling gives some folks pause.

The article also pronounces the mojito dead – well, at least among the cocktail-fashion-forward – that is, people I'm guessing you won't find at the Shorty Pants Lounge:

''The mojito is already passé with the in crowd and that's not a good sign,'' said Tom Pirko of Bevmark, an industry consultant. "It's becoming better known, but that doesn't mean that it's going to have lasting power. This is not the next margarita. What we're talking about is a fashion drink, not something that changes the industry.'

He's wrong there. I'd wager that the mojito has every bit the staying power of the margarita. (Dale DeGroff claims that it's already number three in popularity, after the margarita and cosmo.) The mojito, after all, is as every bit a true classic as the mint julep. All this declaiming by the media of it as "it drink" is just the long, slow process of it becoming a classic.

One can only wish the process was slightly less annoying.

The mojito time warp

When I first saw the cover of the May/June Market Watch, a trade publication covering the adult beverage industry, I had to double check the date. Because the cover story is about this new cocktail, called "the mojito," which America has apparently embraced.

Isn't that a bit like Rolling Stone reporting that "kids today are listening to a rough sort of street poetry they call 'hip-hop."? I had actually been wondering lately just when the mojito had peaked. Last year, a magazine editor even made me strike a reference to "trendy new mojiitos" because it sounded outdated. And she was in Boston, not New York. But apparently it hasn't peaked yet.

In any event, I'm pleased that the mojito is getting the added attention. it deserves to cemented as a classic, and getting "discovered" every year for the next five years or so should about do it. I've got a section in my book on the mojito's history - or at least what's known of it, which, frankly, isn't much, at least not conclusively. It's been around for nearly a century, and likely started as the drink of the Cuban campesino - the sugar, lime and mint would take the rough edge off the nasty, cheap rum. The mojito migrated to Havana's working class beaches, and then made the leap to the tourist nightclubs that boomed during U.S. prohibition.

In 1939, Charles Baker reported on the "greatly improved rum collins" at Sloppy Joe's in Havana, "garnished with a bunch of fresh mint." That same year, the New York Times reported from the Cuban pavilion at the New York World's Fair that they were giving away a booklet instructed one on "the art of concocting three kinds of Daiquiri cocktails and twelve other thirst quenchers made of Havana rum, including the Mojito and the famous Planter's Punch."

The mojito has come and gone since then. But I'm guessing it's now here to stay. And for that we can all be happy - unless, of course, you're a bartender who has to deal with the plague of wilted mint leaves.

Potable Portland, Ore.

In an article in the June 7 issue of Portland's alternative newspaper, Willamette Week writer Kevin Allman takes the nation's preeminent tiki archeologist, Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, on a safari in search of the perfect mai tai and other summer libations.

The duo hit five establishments, ranging from plush to, well, not-so-plush. They turned up a fabulous sidecar made with 15-year-old Barbancourt and fresh squeezed juices at Jake's Grill, and a sad mai tai that "tastes like a watermelon Jolly Rancher" at the Alibi. But they found gold of sorts at the Jasmine Tree and its outstanding collectin of tiki kitsch. (The bar, alas, may soon be demolished.) The drinks at the Jasmine Tree actually failed to impress – the mai tai comes with a canned pineapple ring and what appeared to be a tongue depresser – but the place as a whole left a lasting impression on Berry. "This is what midcentury tiki was really all about," Berry explained to Allman, "a place where a blue-collar guy could take his family and dream about Hawaii for a couple of hours."

Of course, now we have Olive Garden, where we can dream about, um, Italy, I guess, while drinking boxed wine.

Happy International Cachaça Day!

Rum's close cousin is cachaça. It's made directly from sugar cane (rather than molasses), and has traditionally been a fiery, unaged product consumed by those who couldn't afford anything better. If a rum and cachaça family reunion were to be held, the tent would need to be very, very large. The Brazilian Association of Spirits (ABRABE) reports that Brazil produces some 4,000 brands of cachaça, totaling a billion liters each year. It's either the fourth or fifth best selling type of liquor worldwide, depending on which source of information you believe.

The Sociedade Brasileira da Cachaça, which represents cachaça manufacturers, has proposed that June 12 be named the International Day of Cachaça. For on this day in 1744, Portugal banned the production of the spirit in Brazil.

Pimp my cooler

A reliable cooler is a summer essential, needed for hauling ice, beer, and the constituent elements of umbrella cocktails. But who among us has not lamented that coolers are unwieldy at best, causing one to lurch and stumble while feeling with one foot for the edge of the brick walkway to the pool. The wheeled pull-handle cooler -- a welcome invention -- made the process safer and easier, yet it is impossible to look like anything other than a dork while pulling one.

Lament no more. The Cruizin' Cooler is a motorized cooler capable of holding a case of beer plus eight pounds of ice. Imagine the look of envy around the patio when you come barreling into the backyard at up to 15 miles per hour. Available in gas or electric models, the coolers, which have a range of up to 30 miles (gas models), start at $349. For a pimped out gas version with a 39cc, four-stroke engine with padded seat and trailer, figure on about $700. The recommended weight limit is 200 pounds, buut the company website notes that "We have had guys weighting around 325 lbs drive the cooler routinely without incident or overly burdening the coolers."

Summer is fleeting. Buy now.

Trader Vic's, again, in Arizona

Trader Vic's reopened yesterday at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, Arizona, after having closed in 1980. If I'm counting right, that brings the number of Trader Vic's back up to 22 worldwide (four are in the United Arab Emirates), with seven in the United States.

While an article in the Scottsdale paper notes that architects reimagined the restaurant as "classy not campy" – leading one to believe that somebody's missing the point – I'm still eager to visit because the resort has such a great mid-century history. The hotel opened in 1956, blending southwest style with mid-century planes and rooflines.

Among the early guests: Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, Ted Williams, Humphrey Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman. Hollywood's star couple of Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner married here in 1957. Trader Vic's opened in 1962, and had a run of nearly two decades. In the past couple of years, new owners have spruced up the place while adding and expanding, but have managed to respect the mid-century heritage.

The resort's website, link below, is worth a visit – the site's designer knows how to walk that fine line between classy and camp. As yet, no photos posted of the new Trader Vic's. But I'm looking forward to that first mai tai when I eventually get out there.