Mojito

Long Winded Instructions

Ahhh the mojito! What can one say about this drink? To be honest, I don’t know that much about its history or background. I know it’s Cuban in origin and very popular. But that’s about it. You didn’t really come here for the drink’s history though, did you? You could get that anywhere. A quick search and you could be swimming in ads while reading all kinds of interesting things about it. No, you’re here and that means you came for a unique perspective. A perspective that’s not terribly well informed. That’s our specialty.

What I offer you is my experience, and what I’ve experienced is a surprisingly simple, crisp, and satisfying drink. It might define the word “refreshing”. Or, maybe it embodies the word. It doesn’t have a body though, so I guess it endrinkies the word. Either way, it can surely quench a thirst. I’ll tell ya that much.

The time we’ve spent getting to know rum has mostly been with the dark or spiced variety. So, this was one of the first drinks we tried with white rum. To be honest, I don’t think white rum is anything special. Or, at least I haven’t tried any that I would enjoy sipping on straight. But I’ve gotta say its contribution to the mojito is perfect. So, let’s dive in shall we?

Your home mojito journey starts with lime and simple syrup. You can do this right in your presentation glass because there’s no need to shake or strain this one. Get yourself a nice tall highball glass. You want a little liquid in the glass to help buffer the mint muddling you’re about to do. Squeeze that juice out of a real lime and squeeze that simple syrup out of your simple syrup container. If you’ve done what I’ve begged you to do since day one, your simple syrup is in a decorative mason jar, and you can’t squeeze those. Very good. I wanted to see if you’ve been paying attention. You’ll have to pour or spoon it out.

Now break out your mint. This is the hero of this cocktail story. You’ll want several nice fresh mint leaves and you’ll want to wake them up. Yes, they’re in hibernation. You probably weren’t aware of that (I certainly wasn’t), but I tested this with science and found it to be true. You want to give your mint a good slap to wake it up. To repeat this experiment, try smelling your mint before you slap and then smell again after. You’re welcome. Some people might consider this to be mint abuse and I suppose it could escalate to that. But all you need here is to place it in your hand and give it a clap. A clapping slap if you will. It will leap to its feet immediately and you will realize what a deep slumber this mint has actually been in.

Throw that alert mint into your glass and muddle away. You want to massage those mint oils out of the leaves without shredding. Now comes the moment you’ve been waiting for. Pour in your white rum. Now it’s a party. The white rum knows all of the best party games and funniest anecdotes. Your party was lackluster before rum showed up but now every guest has brightened up and is really enjoying themselves! Even lime (which can be a real snooze-fest at these things) is cracking jokes and doing 90’s dance moves. But you’re not done yet. This thing is just getting going.

Fill your glass with crushed ice. If you don’t like crushed ice, that’s ok. You can use regular ice. But somehow the crushed ice makes the whole thing feel lighter. Pour some club soda or your fav sparkling water now to the top (nearly). Now you mix. Get that bartender spoon (or regular spoon) down in there real good and slosh it around. Try to bring the mint leaves at the bottom up through the liquid and distribute them throughout the glass. You want them to mingle with all of the other guests equally. Oh I forgot that I had already moved on from that metaphor. Oh well.

The mixing is easier with crushed ice and it is also an excellent holder for your garnish, which as you probably already guessed or read, is more mint. Give that mint a slap as well. You don’t want some drowsy mint sitting on top of your creation. A lime wedge is a nice addition too so your drinker can adjust the balance to their taste.

That’s it. Well go on. Give it a try. I’ll wait while you do.

What do you think? Yeah! I know, right?! Totally!