Mojito recipe

cw girl

I've got a mojito recipe from the web that includes spearmint leaves - where can I get these - or is there an alternative I can use??

recipe I got includes limes, club soda mint leaves, sugar plus rum - any experts out there? Is this similar to recipe anybody else has used? Thanks

lmtduffy

Regular mint would probably just do,

also try use sparkling water I find it makes them more refreshing.

And throw a drop of angustora on top makes a world of difference.

And any decent quality white rum will do,

the beer revolu

Yes, common or garden mint is fine.

3 year old rum is best (straw coloured) but white rum works fine.

Most recipes have limes but the first Mohitos I ever had, in Cuba, were all made with lemon juice.

Elem

the beer revolu wrote: »

Yes, common or garden mint is fine.

3 year old rum is best (straw coloured) but white rum works fine.

Most recipes have limes but the first Mohitos I ever had, in Cuba, were all made with lemon juice.

3 year old rum is not the best, blanco rum is the best for a Mojito. And, LIMES LIMES LIMES!

lmtduffy

I think the rum is a matter of taste,

I could enjoy both in mojito's depending on my mood.

I Use some lemon juice once mixed with some limes because I was low on limes,
and the lemon juice made them awfully bitter I found.

And in cuba everywhere I went used lime juice,

Elem

The Perfect Mojito:

1. A rock tumbler
2. Add 8 mint leaves (Mojito leaves if possible, its where the drink got its name)
3. Add 2 bar spoons of muddled sugarcane or brown sugar when sugarcane is not avalible
4. Add 4 wedges of fresh lime
5. Muddle the limes into the sugar and leaves (Strong muddle)
6. Add half a glass of cracked ice or crushed ice if thats your thing
7. Add 80ml's of fine white cuban rum (Havana Club Añejo Blanco rum)
8. Mix the drink with a bar spoon or a long spoon.
9. Add crush ice to fill the rest of the glass
10. Top with soda
11. Garnish with a spring of mint
12. Enjoy a perfect Mojito!

the beer revolu

Elem wrote: »

3 year old rum is not the best, blanco rum is the best for a Mojito. And, LIMES LIMES LIMES!

Ah, I guess you know better than the Cubans!!

the beer revolu

lmtduffy wrote: »

I think the rum is a matter of taste,

I could enjoy both in mojito's depending on my mood.

I Use some lemon juice once mixed with some limes because I was low on limes,
and the lemon juice made them awfully bitter I found.

And in cuba everywhere I went used lime juice,

Maybe in 97 there was a great lime shortage (quite possible)

I've used both lemons and limes and a mix of both. All good.

jim o doom

My recipe as follows;
make up sugar syrup for your drink first - boil some water (well simmer not boil) and add sugar until saturation point, also add some mint leaves & a wee bit of mint flavouring to the sugar water and crush the mint leaves in the mix.
This gives you nice sugary mint water for the mix.
Get a lime, quarter it and put 2 quarters & about 9/10 mint leaves into the mix and about 2 shots of the sugar water mix. Muddle the lot (mix & crush it together) add about half glass of crushed ice, then then 1 & half or 2 shots bacardi & about 3 shots of fizzy water, fill with ice & leave mint "garnish" off because it's pointless and inhibits high speed swallowing. Stick 2 straws in to stop mint going in yer gob, and enjoy.

MediaTank

The secret to a great mojito is the mint leaves. The only variety used in Cuba is called Yerba Buena or sometimes Mojito Mint. It's native to Cuba and southern Florida. I use 3 year old (golden) Havana Club to make mine. A few years back I sourced some root stock for Yerba Buena and now grow it in pots in the garden. Now all we need is some good weather to get mixing...

Elem

the beer revolu wrote: »

Ah, I guess you know better than the Cubans!!

That is Cuban, you can trust me on that. In Cuba, Bacardi owns the rights to the Mojito. Bacardi isn't even made in Cuba! A Mojito is suppose to be a refreshing drink, aged rum would take that away.

nick23

Elem wrote: »

That is Cuban, you can trust me on that. In Cuba, Bacardi owns the rights to the Mojito. Bacardi isn't even made in Cuba! A Mojito is suppose to be a refreshing drink, aged rum would take that away.

I agree with Elem:
The traditional mojito is made with white rum so that the refreshing mint and lime flavours arent overwhelmed by the aged rum.

It really comes down to personal taste but i'd always try and go for white rum when i can. I just think a mojito should be a refreshing summer drink and you will always get better results with white rum (like bacardi blanco)

the beer revolu

A question to Nick and Elem:

Have you tried a mojito with 3YO rum?

lmtduffy

Way to take the fun out of cocktails everyone!

A cocktail can be called a mojito or a margarita as long as they have the same basic ingredients or the same basic taste.

Their is no one way about it.

Drink what you enjoy and enjoy what you drink.

pa990

Where can i get my hands on some of this "Mojito mint leaf" / "Yerba Buena"

I do love a mojito, and was aboutto plant some mint shortly (indoors)

Elem

the beer revolu wrote: »

A question to Nick and Elem:

Have you tried a mojito with 3YO rum?

In work we give a choice of what rum we use. But by default we use Havana white. I love rum, i love aged rum. I use aged rum in my Mai Tai, but not in a Mojito.

nick23

the beer revolu wrote: »

A question to Nick and Elem:

Have you tried a mojito with 3YO rum?

Yes i have. I have tried it with 3 year old, 8 year old, spiced rum, dark rum and various others (im a cocktail barman and sometimes have free time on my hands so i like to do a lot of tasting ) and my favourite to date is still the white rum (either bacardi superior or havana club bianco)

nick23

pa990 wrote: »

Where can i get my hands on some of this "Mojito mint leaf" / "Yerba Buena"

I do love a mojito, and was aboutto plant some mint shortly (indoors)

Any basic mint leaf will do really. Just try to make sure they have nice broad leaves and that you dont leave the stems on when you make you cocktails (leaves only - stems can give off quite a bitter taste when you muddle them)

MediaTank

pa990 wrote: »

Where can i get my hands on some of this "Mojito mint leaf" / "Yerba Buena"

I do love a mojito, and was aboutto plant some mint shortly (indoors)

If you live in Dublin, PM me and I'll see if I can get you some root stock.

the beer revolu

Elem & Nick:

Fair enough. I bow to your professional experience at making cocktails but I still like a Mojito as I saw them made in Cuba before I'd ever come across one anywhere else in the world. A wonderful 'first experience'.
So, if only for nostalgic reasons, I'll continue to use 3YO rum and often use lemon juice.

Also as cocktails migrate they often mutate to suit international tastes.

MediaTank

the beer revolu wrote: »

Elem & Nick:

Fair enough. I bow to your professional experience at making cocktails but I still like a Mojito as I saw them made in Cuba before I'd ever come across one anywhere else in the world. A wonderful 'first experience'.
So, if only for nostalgic reasons, I'll continue to use 3YO rum and often use lemon juice.

Me too. The 3 year old HC makes it just that bit 'richer', and that
's the way I like them in Cuba or elsewhere. bartenders (e.g. at the Nacional) like to add a couple of drops of bitters for zing.

For an interesting twist substitute champagne for the sparkling water to make a Mojito Royale.

Mr Magnolia

I am certainly going to try out some of these combo's. Thanks all.

nick23

the beer revolu wrote: »

Elem & Nick:

Fair enough. I bow to your professional experience at making cocktails but I still like a Mojito as I saw them made in Cuba before I'd ever come across one anywhere else in the world. A wonderful 'first experience'.
So, if only for nostalgic reasons, I'll continue to use 3YO rum and often use lemon juice.

Also as cocktails migrate they often mutate to suit international tastes.

I know what you mean. In my bar for example we use aged rum which i have no problem with but when i have a choice i prefer white rum

And Mr Magnolia:

If you want to try some combinations why not try muddling some blueberries or raspberries with the mint and limes to make it a bit more interesting. The possibilities are endless!!!!

the beer revolu

MediaTank wrote: »

Me too. The 3 year old HC makes it just that bit 'richer', and that
's the way I like them in Cuba or elsewhere. bartenders (e.g. at the Nacional) like to add a couple of drops of bitters for zing.

For an interesting twist substitute champagne for the sparkling water to make a Mojito Royale.

Now, THAT sounds interesting!

As if Mojitos aren't dangerous enough already.!:D

I have to try this sometime!!

Mr Magnolia

Very refreshing. One to remember for a great summer.

I picked up some blackberries too, love blackberries, will try those with the next one. Cheers all!

Prospero1960

Greetings from London. Although I'm not Irish I share a common love of good drink, which means there must be at least a drop of Irish blood in me somewhere. I came across this site when I was looking through the Web, and I figured I'd sign up to offer my take on the great mojito debate.

the beer revolu wrote: »

3 year old rum is best (straw coloured) but white rum works fine.

It's largely a matter of preference, but in Cuba you'll rarely see anything other than Añejo Blanco rum used these days. A few years ago Havana Club used to produce an even younger Silver Dry rum, and that was popular for making mojitos then. The 3-year-old Añejo Especial can be used if you prefer the taste, but I've never seen anything older than that used in an authentic mojito. It would be just plain wrong.

the beer revolu wrote: »

Most recipes have limes but the first Mohitos I ever had, in Cuba, were all made with lemon juice.

I've been to Cuba 15 times since 2002, and have spent over two years in total there. In all that time I've never seen a mojito made with lemon juice. In fact, I've hardly ever seen a lemon in any shape or form - limes are used almost exclusively. But I don't doubt beer_revo's story - as someone else said, there are often shortages of things in Cuba, and maybe when he was there they were using lemons. Usually with me it's a shortage of bog roll. I was once shown the correct method of using sheets torn from the national newspaper Granma for this purpose, but that's another story. . .

nick23 wrote: »

Any basic mint leaf will do really.

No it won't, really. I used to think this was the case, but it isn't. I once made a big batch of mojitos using spearmint for a bunch of Cuban friends at a party we had here, and watched as they screwed up their faces in disgust. I didn't think they were that bad, but with practice using the correct mint my tastes became more discerning, just like theirs.

I'm married to a Cuban lady and we divide our time between London and Cuba. We grow the Cuban mint for mojitos both at our apartment out there and on our patio in London. Its proper name is Mentha x villosa, sometimes known as Mentha nemorosa. It is a cross between Mentha spicata (ordinary spearmint) and Mentha suavolens (apple mint) which grows in Cuba, where it is known as Yerba Buena. But there is still room for confusion with this name, which is used across Latin America to refer to various members of the Mentha family.

The correct mint really does make a difference to the quality and taste of a mojito. If anyone else here in the UK or Ireland wants to try growing it I can send them a few rooted cuttings (being a cross it doesn't come true from seed). There are some pictures and cultivation notes I posted here for anyone who is interested:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/99093/

nick23 wrote: »

Just try to make sure they have nice broad leaves and that you dont leave the stems on when you make you cocktails (leaves only - stems can give off quite a bitter taste when you muddle them)

Well, that's what happens when you don't pay proper attention to using the correct mint. Many mints are much more pungent or acrid than Yerba Buena, and don't make a good mojito. Any decent Cuban bartender knows that the oil in the stems of the Yerba Buena variety of mint is the most important part. Sometimes you will see them use the back of a long spoon to gently crush only the stems, and you will NEVER see a mojito made in Cuba using only the leaves of the plant.

A few more notes:

Sugar - Some "authentic" recipes call for the use of guarapo, which is raw cane sugar juice, and is surprisingly un-sweet if you ever try a glass of it in Cuba. Some recipes recommend brown sugar, and others suggest using simple syrup (sugar dissolved in boiling water). More often than not in Cuba you'll just see ordinary refined white sugar used. Experiment to find what suits your taste best.

Ice - in Cuba you'll never see an authentic mojito made with crushed ice.

Muddling - What you will often see is the bartender claps the topping sprig of mint between his hands to bruise it slightly and release some of the oil. Generally, the mint added earlier will only be lightly muddled with the sugar and lime juice, not completely maserated.

Much of this comes down to personal preferences and you can experiment to find what works best for your tastes, but at least here you have some good starting points and tips for authentic results.

enda1

^
Whatta' first post!

Must say I like a little dash of angustura bitters on the top of the Mojito.

Oh, and its a long drink, not a cocktail (there's only rum as an alcohol based ingredient).

Mantel

Poor man's (or lazy sod's) Mojito

Rum (of course)
Limes (can't do without!)
7up
Mint cordial

Okay the mint cordial isn't the best but the 7up combines the lime/soda water/sugar fairly well. Still needs a bit of fresh lime juice though for that extra citrus touch. Barring that you could throw in a few wrigely's spearmint gum. These are the things you have to do when all you have is a bottle of rum, two limes and a corner shop.