A simple mojito recipe that will blow you away.
Let me tell you something, I have spent a ton of time trying different recipes for a great mojito. And as many of you know the mojito is a rum based Cuban cocktail that goes absolutely perfect with a fine hand rolled cigar. A mojito happens to be great with a cigar because it’s clean, fresh, and a great palette cleanser, but mojitos are great for more than just cigars. Heck I like to make myself a mojito as soon as I’m done working for the day with or without a cigar in my mouth. Women love mojitos as well, my wife isn’t a cigar smoker but she loves mojitos just as much as I do. So lets get to it and make a great mojito!
The ingredients
First you will need to grab a rocks glass and the ingredients:
- One shot (or so) of rum
- 2 slices of lime
- 6 mint leaves
- Club soda (you can use plain water as a substitute)
- Simple syrup (you can use sugar as a substitute but the simple syrup REALLY makes this drink taste the way it should)
The first step is to squeeze just one of the two lime slices into the glass. Throw the squeezed lime peel away. Save the other lime slice for later.
Next, toss all of your mint leaves in the glass except for one (save one mint leaf for later).
Now we will pour in about a 2 tablespoons (or just one) of simple syrup (alter based on your tastes). If you don’t have simple syrup simple you can use 1.5 Tablespoons of sugar. However, simple syrup makes the drink MUCH better. Simple syrup is easy to make, just boil 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar until it turns clear and then remove from heat, let cool, and put in a container into your fridge. Simple syrup is great for a number of cocktails so there is nothing wrong with having some on hand.
Next we muddle the mixture. Do not be too harsh on the mint, just bruise the mint. The idea is to squeeze out some mint flavor without destroying the mint leaves. You don’t want small crushed pieces of mint leaves getting stuck in your teeth. If you don’t have a muddler you can use the back end of a wooden spoon.
Toss in the remaining lime slice.
Fill the cup with ice.
Add one shot (or so) of rum. I like to use plain white rum but I’m sure any rum will do. You can add more or less rum depending on your tastes.
At this point the liquid mixture in the glass should be about half full (or half empty depending on your worldview). Now it’s time to fill the rest of the glass with club soda. You can use plain water if you don’t have club soda. Sometimes I use half water and half club soda when I want less carbonation.
Now carefully mix the ingredients together. Don’t over mix it. You don’t want to kill your club soda bubbles, but more importantly a mojito should be a complex drink. Similar to a complex cigar the flavors should shift a bit as you drink it. Therefore you don’t want to mix it so much that the drink becomes monotonous.
Now we are almost done with our mojito. Take your last mint leaf and rub it around the rim of your rocks glass. This will give a subtle mint taste at the start of the drink while the muddled mint at the bottom will provide a subtle mint finish. Delicious!! Remember folks, it’s all about creating complexity in flavor. After you are done rubbing the last mint leaf on the glass rim you can throw away that final leaf or toss it in the drink.
And there you have it, the perfect mojito! This mojito recipe is easier than most other mojito recipes and I personally think it’s way better. The main difference with this mojito recipe and others is that most mojito recipes will require dramatically more lime juice, and they use sugar instead of simple syrup. Also, many mojito recipes are designed for a larger glass which means more club soda making the drink much more carbonated – I think the mojito tastes better as more of a cocktail style drink and less of a “foo foo” style drink.
If you have ever been to the cigar bar in Vegas called Rhumbar or Casa Fuente you will find that their mojitos are very similar to this mojito recipe.
Oh and there is one final step… fire up a fine cigar and enjoy your mojito!
Oh baby… this mojito is amazing!!
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