Few things go together like mojitos and summertime. Add in a rooftop bar – or better, a piping hot sandy beach, and you’ve cracked the code for the perfect summer’s day. If you really want to go for it, head to Cuba, where the cocktail was first mixed.

That’s right, the mojito is more Cuban than your open-collar shirt. Simple, sweet, and very tempting in a heatwave, its combination of sugar, citrus, and aromatic mint makes it an ideal thirst quencher (aka dangerously easy drinking).

Drink snobs may dismiss it as an easy-pour cocktail, but be warned: although refreshing, the generous serving of rum means the mojito packs a punch. “When I used to work as a bartender at the Hard Rock Cafe, we had a regular group of Hells Angels that would come in and the mojito was their go-to,” says Christos Baos, now brand manager at Don Papa rum.

Rather than bikers, it’s Ernest Hemingway who can be thanked for the cocktail’s iconic status. The author discovered the drink at the Cuban bar-restaurant Le Bodeguita del medio. “This bar is now a mecca for mojito fans who want to enjoy a truly authentic version,” says Baos.

Of course that wasn’t its first rendition; the cocktail dates back to the 1600s when it was used as a medicinal drink to curb disease on the island. A moonshine rum-type alcohol was used back then, as sailors used a crude form of the cocktail to treat scurvy and dysentery. The modern name likely relates to mojo, a Cuban seasoning made from lime and used to flavour dishes.

The fact that it’s primarily five ingredients makes it a surefire winner for cocktail enthusiasts and dinner hosts alike: the rum, sugar, lime juice, soda water, and mint can be easily played with to suit differing tastes. “There are so many different ways to experiment with the traditional recipe to achieve a whole range of twists on the classic,” says Baos.