Dial M for Mojito
With the summer months nearly upon us, I thought I’d post my favorite warm-weather drink: the mojito.
Muddle together in a tall glass:
- A large sprig of mint
- 3/4 oz of simple syrup
Add:
- The juice of half a lime (drop the hull in after juicing)
- 2 oz light rum
- Enough crushed ice to fill the glass
- Soda water
Stir gently.
Muddling, for those not familiar with the technique, is the process of combining a solid ingredient with a small amount of liquid by mashing it with a blunt object (you can buy a muddler designed for the task, or use a similarly shaped object like a wooden spoon). In this case, it’s nigh-impossible to over-muddle, so don’t skimp. If you can still see whole mint leaves, you aren’t done yet.
A common mojito mistake is muddling the lime together with the mint and syrup. Don’t do this; you’ll just end up imparting an undesirable bitter flavor to the drink.
Be sure to use crushed ice, not cubes, and completely the glass with it. You should only need a few ounces of soda water to fill the cracks. Somewhat counterintuitively, using more ice will actually result in a colder, less diluted drink
Also make sure you use a light rum, such as Bacardi Superior or Cruzan Light (my personal favorite). Dark and/or spiced rums will overpower the delicate lime/mint flavor of the drink.
