Are Mojitos the new Cosmopolitan?

The majority of cocktail bars, from New York to London and back to Toronto, would undoubtedly attest to the surge in popularity of the Mojito Cocktail over the last decade. The sweet, minty cocktail, a concoction of white rum, lime juice, sugar syrup and mint leaves, has become the cocktail that is “OK” for a guy to order, safe from a potential “ribbing” from his male mates, a fate which may well await with the ordering off various other popular cocktails, such as the Martini or a Cosmopolitan. Even though Mojitos can be quite timely to prepare, it hasnt stopped their runaway popularity.
Although big in demand from many cocktail bar frequenters, the management and staff at certain cocktail bars have begun to rebel against this popular drink. The reason for this is two-fold; firstly, the Mojito cocktail is viewed by some as too time-consuming to make and secondly, the perception from some cocktail “experts” that the Mojito cocktail is “old-hat” and “out of fashion”, similar to the fate befell on the Cosmopolitan, caused in part by the over-exposure received from Carrie Bradshaw and her friends. The time issue comes down to basic economics in that time is money and some bartenders contend that they can make 2-3 drinks in the time it takes to make a well-prepared Mojito. Furthermore, once one person in the group orders one, it`s often the case that everyone in the group has to have Mojitos, leading to a bottle-neck for the bartender.

A recent article in the New York Post stated how one bar in New York, Sin Bin, actually stopped selling the Mojito cocktail due to the effort required in their preparation, and I have heard stories of people going into cocktail bars in the UK and being told that the bar is out of mint, however, one wonders if this is just a diversion tactic to get the punter to order another drink, one that will be faster to prepare and ultimately, in a busy bar environment, more profitable!

In my opinion, the crux of this issue comes down to the basics of good customer service. If you are an established bar and are not prepared to give your customer what they want, no matter how long it takes to prepare, then the customer will (and should) vote with their feet & wallet and go elsewhere, to a cocktail establishment which places the needs of the customer at the heart of its business.

Cocktail bars, and the people who back them, should be thanking their lucky stars for Mojitos as it has become a discernible entry point for many male customers in experiencing their first real taste of cocktail culture, and the world of fantastic concoctions that awaits. Furthermore, if the cocktail bar industry truly does believe that a Mojito cocktail is prohibitively time consuming to prepare, relative to other cocktails, then surely the major white rum brands should step in and provide more training or better tools to help make their job a little more efficient.