Ingredients
- 50ml white rum
- Soda water
- 1-and-a-half limes cut into wedges
- 20 fresh mint leaves
- Sugar
- Fresh mint sprig to garnish
About
The Mojito is one of the UK’s favourite cocktails and it’s a simple one to make.
This Cuban cocktail has gone from strength-to-strength in the UK, picking up fans with its simple, sweet and minty taste.
There’s no need for fancy cocktail equipment, such as shakers or strainers. However, a muddler would come in useful to break up the limes and mint. If you don’t have one though, then the end of a clean rolling pin will work just as well.
Our favourite thing about a good mojito is the crunch you get from the undissolved sugar, which provides a hit of sweetness every now and then.
The recipe here calls for 50ml of rum, but feel free to add a little more – another 15ml is probably a more accurate amount.
As with many cocktails, the drink’s origins aren’t fully known. It is believed African slaves working in the sugar cane fields in around the 19th Century were behind it.
Again, the origin of the name is also a bit of a grey area, with several theories out there pointing in different directions.
What we do know, is author Ernest Hemingway favoured the Mojito, a drink he consumed in several famous bars including the bar La Bodeguita del Medio.
History aside, this is a drink almost all will like, even those who day they don’t like rum.
Method
Put the lime wedges, mint leaves and sugar into a long, sturdy glass
Muddle with a muddler until the leaves are bruised, the lime juice has been released and the sugar is partially dissolved
Fill the glass with crushed ice
Pour in the rum
Top with soda water
Mix
Add more ice if needed
Garnish with the mint sprig and serve with a paper straw
