Mojito (mo-hee-to)

What is it about Mojito’s that have you reminiscing about tropical holidays, lazing by a pool with a killer tan in a happy and boozy haze? Bliss right?

The sweet hit of sugar, the subtle splash of citrus, the rich kick of rum, and the herbaceous aroma of mint all combine to deliver something that many would call Havana in a glass.

So, how to make a Mojito?

You’ll need:

• 60ml white rum (Bacardi)
• 20ml sugar syrup
• 8 mint leaves
• 6 lime wedges
• Soda water, to top
• Fresh mint and lime wedges, to garnish
• Crushed ice

How?

• Place mint, lime and sugar in a glass, bruise the mint leaves with muddler or pestle. If you don’t have one, just slap and crush the mint really well in your hands then pop them in;
• Add ice (crushed or blocks – your choice, but we recommend crushed), then the rum and soda water, then mix; then
• Garnish with lime and more mint!

The key to a great Mojito is bruising the mint leaves using a muddler (or pestle!) in the glass so it releases flavour into the drink. This process of squishing the mint leaves in the glass is called muddling. 

Some bartenders like to also muddle lime wedges in the glass. But we don’t recommend this for two reasons:

Over muddling can cause a bitter flavour from the white flesh of limes; and

You can’t accurately measure the amount of lime juice released into your mojito and therefore the balance could be out, therefore, a most unenjoyable Mojito – who wants that?

Also, one more tip – use sugar syrup, not sugar granules. It’s hard (and annoying) to make sugar granules dissolve. Nobody wants grainy sugar crunch in their mojito! Unless you enjoy cheap, nasty, crunchy mojito’s ala cheap bars in Bali! YUCK!