Oh hey there. Last week we talked about the gorges Mint Julep, and after having one of those along with some of these quite yummy drinks at tails this weekend, I thought we should explore the other great mint-based cocktail: the Mojito.

You might be saying...

Did you just call a drink “mint-based”? Yes.

WTF does that mean? Well, mint is the defining taste in a mojito.

But why mint? Because the mint has a semi-sweet, “cold” taste that really makes the drink, well, cold and refreshing. Besides, if it didn’t have mint, it’d pretty much just be a watered-down daiquiri.

Oh, OK.

So, we’ve all seen the Bacardi commercial with the brooding bartender twisting away at some mint leaves while countless beautiful women gyrate their hips. It’s enough to make a guy’s mouth water, and it’s not misplaced: there’s something about the rum, mint, and citrus combination – fabulously chilled of course – that makes you think about taking a little jaunt over to your local dance club. I suppose those gyrating hips are a pretty good reason, too.

Okay, so maybe I don’t frequent dance clubs, but at least it fits with the mental image – after dancing the mini-dress right off your dance partner, you could go for an ice-cold, zesty drink. Right?

So here’s what you need:

2 oz white rum (Bacardi Superior is great; try Seagram’s White or Appleton White to mix it up)
¾ - 1 oz FRESH lime juice
2 - 3 sprigs of mint (~10 good-sized leaves); spearmint, not peppermint or anything else
½ - ¾ oz simple syrup
Soda water
Highball glass or other ~12oz glass

How to make it happen:

Add the simple syrup to your glass.
Tear the mint leaves from the sprig, rub them on the rim of glass, tear in half, and drop them in the glass.
Gently muddle the mint until the leaves are nice and dark green – you should be able to see them getting somewhat saturated by the simple syrup.
Add the lime juice and rum, and give it a gentle stir.
Fill most of the glass with ice and top with a splash or two of soda water, giving it one more gentle stir.
Garnish with the top of a mint sprig.

Boom. Do it right, and you’ve got yourself one refreshing cocktail. Some important tips:

DON’T over-tear or over-muddle the mint. You tear and muddle the mint to release its flavor, but don’t overdo it, people. This means don’t tear the leaves into tiny bits and don’t crush them into a pulp, or else you’ll be picking pieces of mint out of your teeth all night. Not suave.

DO use fresh lime juice. Those cute little lime juice bottles will work just fine, right? Wrong. Go ahead and use fresh limes. Yeah, it takes a little more effort, but this is a classy cocktail, not some bland mixed drink. To get the most juice out of a lime (assuming you don’t have a juicer) push firmly against the lime and roll it against a hard surface until you feel the inside softening – you’re breaking open all those little cells inside it. Then slice the lime in half. You can either squeeze the juice into a measuring tool, or just know that half of a normal-sized lime, when properly squeezed, yields about ½ oz of juice.

DON’T over-stir the drink. A big part of this drink is that the flavors mingle together over the ice and aren’t always evenly mixed. That’s okay! Don’t feel like it all has to be perfectly integrated, because, after all, there’s a reason we don’t shake this drink – all that does is water it down and bland the mint. Just let those flavors hit you however they come out of the glass.

DO play with the amount of simple syrup and lime juice. Yes, the mint and rum flavors make the drink, but making it a pinch more or less sweet, or a tad more or less sour, can really change the drink. So mess around with it a bit, and see what you like.

Cheers