PlantFiles: Cuban Mint, Mojito Mint
Mentha x villosa

I ordered these plants from Reitcher's, which is located in Toronto, Canada. My plants were in poor condition when they arrived but I got them in the ground right away. Out of 12 plants, I had 9 survive. This is the second year and they look great! They are sturdy and upright and have a very different flavor than my other spearmint plants. So far they are about 18" tall and are pest and disease free. The leaves are very thick and healthy. I love the flavor of this mint. My suggestion is if you order anything from Reichter's that you plant whatever you receive as soon as you get it. It took about 5 weeks for my order to arrive. Just to add, Walla Walla is in Washington, NOT Oregon. I am in zone 6b.

My first experience with mojto mint was while I was working as a bartender in Orlando, Florida 22 years ago when a friend introduced me to the traditional Cuban drink. I had forgotten about it until after traveling to Kansas City last year with my 4 sisters-in-law when we ate at a restaurant where they served authentic Mojitos. After months of searching I was able to find some live plants through Richter's but can't seem to find any specific information on raising them. The information that came with the plants was VERY generic and I have two plants (of 12) remaining. We (myself and my sisters-in-law) were hoping to introduce this mint to our large extended family during one of our numerous family gatherings. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Here is what Richter's has to say about this mint:
"Cuba’s famed mojito cocktail, once a daily favourite of Ernest Hemingway, has enjoyed a meteoric resurgence in popularity ever since James Bond drank one in the movie Die Another Day. The mojito, made with rum, powdered sugar, lime juice, club soda and Cuba’s unique mojito mint, is now an essential staple of cocktail lounges everywhere. While recipes call for any available variety of spearmint, the real mojito can only be made with the true mojito mint. This mint was impossible to get in North America but thanks to Toronto mojito enthusiast Catherine Nasmith who visited Cuba in 2006 we now have the authentic plant from Cuba. It is clearly different from most other mints -- its scent and flavour are agreeably mild and warm, not pungent nor overly sweet like other mints. In a perhaps typically Cuban understated way its warm embrace lingers until you realize you want more. Like all mints it is easy to grow and will happily provide more than enough fresh sprigs for your mojitos. Salud!"

update:
wanted to say this mint was not worth ordering in my opinion. It was bitter, and the plant I got from Richters was so small that it only had two sets of leaves. I was told I was lucky to even get that, because there was such a demand, that they had been running out. Well, it isn't that special, just marketed well. Plenty of better tasting mints out there, to muddle in your mojito, in my opinion...