Mojito

Someone else's mojito... for now.

Oh, there's nothing so fine as sipping on this particular mojito. Don't wait for a swarthy bartender to make one, get off your arse and do this yourself!

Simple syrup

TODO: Move this to its own page later.

You can make as much of this as you feel like, and it should last at least a month in the fridge, or much longer in the freezer.

Put 1 cup of brown sugar (it really MUST be brown sugar) per 1 cup of water (as many cups as you like of each, so long as you match quantities) into a saucepan. Add 1/2 a lime and 1 twig of mint per cup of brown sugar to the mix. Stir and heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and then remove from the heat and allow to cool. You should not need to boil the mix. If you do boil the mix, you're not stirring enough or you're doing something else wrong.

Strain out the mint and lime, then set aside for whenever you're ready to Mojito!

Ingredients

• 1 oz (shot) simple syrup
• 1 oz (shot) rum
• 1/2 lime
• 1 twig of fresh mint or more (there should be enough mint to completely fill the glass and even go over the top... don't worry, it will squish down)
• Ice
• Soda water or sparkling water (best if this is cold, warm soda water will melt the ice too much and dilute the flavor)
• Straw (really not optional, these things are terrible to drink from the top of the glass)

Method

1. In a tall glass (roughly 12-15 oz) add 1 shot of simple syrup and 1 shot of rum.
2. Slice the lime half into 4 pieces (lengthwise is best) and pop into the glass.
3. Add the mint. So long as you don't squish it down at this point, you really can't add too much. The fresher the better.
4. With the spiky end of a cocktail pounder (or large pestle if you don't have the pounder) squash the lime and mint into the liquid. Have a ball. Twist and pound, but don't break your glass.
5. Add ice to the top of the glass. No, really.
6. Add in the chilled soda water, and be sure to leave yourself at least an inch at the top of the glass for mixing.
7. With a cocktail stirrer (or parfait spoon if you don't have one) stir up the drink. Try to pull the twig of mint back up to the top of the glass for effect (this has the added bonus of mixing up the drink).
8. When the color is even from top to bottom, pop in a straw. If you like, you can decorate with a lime wedge and a cocktail umbrella.
9. Enjoy! Best enjoyed on a banana lounge at the beach. If such a thing is unavailable to you, close your eyes and imagine during your first sip

Notes

The fresher the mint, the better.