I have never been much of a gardener (to say the least) but luckily my sister-in-law has quite the touch with plants. When I visited yesterday, she handed me a beautiful bunch of mint, and I went home to decide what to do with it.
I thought first to go making granita, which I might attempt today, but after the glow of the Munster match and the warmth of the sun in the afternoon, I decided to make a mojito.
It’s surely one of my favourite cocktails, and if you can’t get to Cuba and have fresh mint handy, it will give a lift to any day. By the way, I was quite pleased to see it on the drinks menu in Mackerel on my last trip to Dublin. Sadly, I had to drive home, so I had to pass on a lunchtime indulgence!
Mojito
2 oz Rum (preferably Havana Club 7 year)
A bunch of mint
Juicy slice of lime
1-2 Tablspoon sugar
2 oz club soda or still water
Several ice cubes
Combine all the ingredients except the lime in a tall glass and stir vigourously to release the flavour of the mint. Squeeze in some lime juice, then drop in the lime slice. Stir again. There are those who would strain it, but I think it’s much more dramatic with the mint still in place, and although it might tickle the nose, the scent is divine!
My favourite cocktail – it’s insanely refreshing on a humid day Bilbao. There is a huge amount of mint next to then patio at home but it never occurred to me to use it.
Until now.
Enjoy! Sadly here it’s much more like winter today, and all thoughts of mojitos have left me…
If you can, try to crush the ice up rather than use cubes, it makes a huge difference. As far as you opting to make a mojito rather than a granita, someone posted a really great mojito granita recipe on the web. Why not get the best of both worlds.
Any plans for a Murphy’s Mojito ice cream guys?