NewYorkFirst.com: Copacabana Mojito Kit

Hottest Spot North of Havana.

New New York City's Copacabana reigned as one of the town's most glamorous night spots from its opening in the 1940s until well into the 50s. Over the years it gained a nationwide reputation for excellent shows, fine music and gilt-edged atmosphere, all thanks to former speakeasy operator Jules Podell, a tough character who had enough shady friends to give his enterprise a romantic exoticism.

A sort of Cuban cousin to the traditional American mint julep, the mojito has long been considered a classic cocktail in its native country, where, decades ago now, Ernest Hemingway is said to have enjoyed more than one or two of the minty-fresh rum drinks. The mojito was introduced in New York at the legendary Copacabana. A simple blend of sugar, mint leaves, lime juice, rum, ice, soda water (and a few drops of Angostura bitters to cut the sweetness), the Mojito is served in a tall glass sparkling with bubbles and greenery, garnished with a sprig of mint on top.

The Mojito Kit includes a set of four traditional 16-ounce glasses, each 8.25-inches tall, hand-finished with black and green glass overlay, a bartender's blunt-nose pestle (wooden muddler), and a vintage souvenir brochure from the legendary Copacabana.

Roving Cigarette Girls.
The vintage Copacabana ashtray is an icon of romance and glamour, part of New York nightclub culture that now belongs to the golden age of smoking. An endangered object of desire from the tabletop of the legendary Copa, gone along with the cigarette girls. This authentic souvenir adds a heightened moment of aesthetic focus to your home or apartment.

The Best Latin Party Guide.
"The Mojito was destined to take the United States by storm", writes Arlen Gargagliano in Mambo Mixers, as she takes readers on a sumptuous sojourn into the bars and nightclubs of Latin America. Besides the Classic Mojito and a Pineapple Mojito, she serves up recipes for 50 sexy, elegant cocktails, accompanied by such tapas as Crisp Toasts with Chimichurri, Tortilla Española, and Dominican Shrimp Croquettes, virtually limitless cocktail party combinations.