Dad's House

Mojito Recipe – Hemingway’s Favorite Drink

One spring when I was taking a writing class in San Francisco, a friend and I met up in a bar before the first class meeting. The bartender was a cute artsy looking woman, so of course I chatted her up. She soon learned of our writing aspirations and said each time we came to her bar before class, she’d make a different famous author’s favorite cocktail.

That night? The mojito, Ernest Hemingway’s favorite cocktail drink.

Here’s my brother’s recipe for how to make a mojito and simple syrup. This cocktail might be more of a rum daiquiri with mint than whatever they serve in La Bodeguita del Medio. But it’s damn good.

Some granulated sugar
Lots of mint
Juice of 1 lime (should be about 1 oz)
1-2 tsps of simple syrup
1.5 oz Rum
Club soda

Mojito muddler

1. Set aside a nice mint sprig as garnish. For the rest, put the mint leaves in the bottom of your mojito glass, sprinkle in some sugar (for a rough surface) and then muddle the leaves with a wooden spoon or a mojito muddler, like the one pictured to the left. (A spoon is fine, but a muddler is pretty swinger, and it makes for a great gift. You can get a mojito muddler here.) The idea is to release as much mint oil as possible without actually tearing up the mint because then you end up with little bits floating in your mojito.

2. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and mix it well with the mint so the mint infuses the lime juice.
3. Since sugar won’t dissolve in your lime juice, you need to add some simple syrup (sugar water that’s been heated then cooled again). Add a tsp, mix and taste it . You want the mojito to taste like a yummy sour limeade: drinkable as-is but still on the tart side.
4. Fill mojito glass with ice.
5. Pour rum over top and give everything a stir.
6. Top off mojito with club soda (or sparkling water)
7. Garnish with mint

Mojito Collection Glasses Available at Amazon

Simple syrup:

1. Bring a cup of water to a boil.
2. Add a cup of sugar, stir until completely dissolved. You don’t want it to crystallize or turn brown.
3. Remove from stove and cool. Use as needed: it stores in the fridge for a long time.
4. Sometimes if I need some simple syrup and don’t have any, I’ll just pour 1 TBL of water and 1 TBL of sugar into an espresso cup and microwave for 1 min. That does the trick and is fine this mojito recipe. Then, even though it’s still hot, the ice cools it down quickly.

People get fancy with dark rums and light rums and cane sugar vs molasses vs granulated sugar blah blah blah, but as long as you follow the basic idea you’re in good shape. Mojitos are usually served in tall glasses, like the ones pictured. (Once again, an awesome gift idea.)

As for us being in good shape for our writing class? Let’s just say we enjoyed ourselves heartily at the bar, weren’t exactly sharp enough to follow much in class, and had to abandon the idea of downing a famous author’s drink before each class.

But I had a mojito before I wrote this post.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• Limoncello Recipe
• Classic Gin Martini Recipe
• Gimlet Recipe – Friday Night Cocktails
• Negroni Cocktail Recipe
• Cosmopolitan Recipe – Thursday Night Cocktails
  
• Bushwacker Cocktail Recipe
• Rum, Ginger Beer, Lime – Dark and Stormy
  

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August 29th, 2008 Posted in cocktail recipes | Tags: rum drinks | 11 comments