Cuban Mojito
Lime and spearmint muddled with sugar in the glass, then ice, soda water and white rum. Two glasses in five minutes, and the muddling is what decides whether it tastes of mint or of grass.
Servings: 2
Calories: 268kcal
Ingredients
- 4 ounces white rum
- 12 ounces soda water plain carbonated water, not tonic
- 2 tablespoons sugar one per glass
- 2 limes sliced
- A small bunch of spearmint hierbabuena, about 20 leaves
- 10 ice cubes
Instructions
- Put a tablespoon of sugar in each glass with three slices of lime and spearmint leaves to taste, and muddle them together. Press the mint rather than shredding it.
- Add the ice and stir with a spoon to chill everything through.
- Pour in the soda water and turn the ice over with the same spoon to bring the drink together.
- Add the rum and stir lightly.
- Garnish each glass with a sprig of spearmint and serve.
Notes
Press the mint, do not tear it. Muddling is meant to bruise the leaves just enough to release their oils against the sugar and the lime. Grind them and you break the leaf tissue itself, which releases chlorophyll and turns the drink bitter and grassy. A few firm presses with the end of a wooden spoon is all it takes. Hierbabuena is spearmint, which is what Cuba uses and what a mojito is supposed to taste of. Peppermint is a different plant with far more menthol in it and it overwhelms the rum. If the packet says mint without saying which, it is almost always spearmint. Soda water and not tonic. Tonic contains quinine and sugar and gives you a different drink entirely. The rum goes in last in this version, after the soda, which is unusual but keeps the fizz.
Nutrition
Calories: 268kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 72mg | Potassium: 642mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 4282IU | Vitamin C: 51mg | Calcium: 276mg | Iron: 6mg