Classic Mojito
The mojito a classic and fantastic drink! I thought I would take a moment to talk about preparing the perfect mojito.
The classic technique is to muddle the mojito
Ingredients for a Muddled Mojito
2oz light rum
½ of a medium size lime
Handful fresh mint
2 teaspoons sugar
Combine the ingredients in a glass or the shaker base, squeeze the lime and drop it in with the rest. Do not add ice yet. Use the muddler to thoroughly smash the mint this will release the oils and flavor of the mint and the lime. You can now either strain into a glass with ice or just add ice and serve with the pulverized mint in the glass. Add a sprig of mint and a lime wedge to garnish.
Black Cherry Mojito
One of my best friends is having a birthday party next week and I was asked to come up with a drink just for the occasion. I grow fresh mint in the back yard and love mojitos in the summer, my dilemma was how to make them new and exciting. On a whim I decided to make a black cheery syrup (sounds harder than it is) and came up with the black cherry mojitos! The cherry flavor is subtle but delicious; the best part is the color.
Ingredients for Black Cherry Mojitos
Hand full of freshmen mint
3 oz light rum
1 ½ oz black cherry syrup
¾ oz lime juice
Combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake vigorously, strain in to a glass with fresh ice, garnish with a sprig of mint.
Black Cherries and Mint
Note: To shake or to muddle… both work well shaking will pulverize the mint and the mint must be thoroughly strained into the glass. However shaking gives a great green color to the drink. Muddling works best if you a using a coarse sugar in the drink, the sugar works like sandpaper helping to breakdown the mint.
Making the Black Cherry Syrup
This is very easy and the measurements are not exact. Start by putting 2 cups of cherries in a pot cover with water, bring to a boil and add 1 cup sugar. Let simmer on a low boil for about an hour, the longer it cooks and reduces the thicker and sweeter it will be. If you find it is getting to thick or is running out of liquid just add more water as needed. Let cool in the pot and then strain into a pitcher, be sure to smash the cherries to get all their juices out.