The Secret of the Mojito

The Secret of the Mojito
by Wade Armstrong

If you've journeyed to a bar in the last year (or three, if you live in a trendy city like Los Angeles), you've probably encountered the rediscovered '50s standard, the Mojito. After paying your $6 (or $9, if you live in a trendy city like Los Angeles) and downing your beverage, you probably said something like "well, that was... mildly acceptable." (Or, "that was perhaps the most hideous thing I've ever had!" if you got your Mojito at the Havana Club in Baltimore.) Yes, it's true, while the Mojito is hot, the Mojitos you're likely to be served are pretty mediocre. But it's summer, which means it's a great time for you to have a pool or garden party and to feature your own Mojitos, Mojitos that will secure your fame amongst your friends for years to come.

Now, a Mojito is just White Rum, lime juice, mint, sugar, and soda. The Rum and soda are the easy parts—any White Rum Bacardi-level or better will do, and any soda (not tonic water) is fine. The real question is, what's the best way to deliver the lime juice, mint, and sugar?

Traditionally, you're supposed to tear up the mint, add a teaspoon of sugar, add the lime juice, and muddle the concoction with the back of your bar spoon. Anybody who's tried this knows that you need to stir for what seems like a half hour and you end up with soggy sugar and no mint flavor at all. Fortunately, there's a better way to add the sugar and the mint: make mint-flavored simple syrup.

Simple syrup is a wondrous, supersaturated concoction of hot water and sugar. Take a container—I like the $1.29 remaindered olive oil pourers from Big Lots 'cause they have a nice spout—and stick in 4-5 sprigs of mint. Now fill about 40% with sugar, run your tap water until it's as hot as it gets, and fill the bottle the rest of the way with hot hot water. Plug the top well and shake vigorously for several minutes, until the sugar has fully dissolved. Let the syrup cool and then store in the fridge—simple syrup will keep for weeks (the mint may stain the syrup but the flavor will be unaffected). The next morning, taste some of your syrup; you'll be surprised how minty it is.

So, mint and sugar are handled. What about the lime? Sadly, there's just not a lot of good-quality fresh lime juice out there, and squeezing enough (up to a lime per drink) yourself can be a hassle. Rose's Lime Juice is, of course, right out. The best solution is a reasonably non-sweet, all-natural limeade.

Building the drink is half the fun. Grab a 6-ounce plastic cup. (Hey, you'll be outside, no sense in having a mess out there!) Start with a heaping helping of ice, since you want to stay cool by the pool or in your garden. Then add an ounce and a half of rum, a half ounce of lime juice, fill with soda, and top with three-quarters of an ounce of your mint simple syrup.

Wait, I want you to pour exactly an ounce and a half of rum? I want you to distinguish between a half ounce and three-quarters of an ounce of another liquid? I know, it sounds tedious to measure everything out. Fortunately, just like we can get around the muddling of the mint, we can avoid measuring exactly for every drink you pour.

The easy way is, of course, to buy some of those pourers that are designed to give exact pours. You can buy them at most cooking supply stores, they're labeled with things like "1oz" or "1/2oz" (you can probably guess that's how much they're designed to pour). But these fancy pourers can cost several dollars each, and you might prefer to buy the cheaper, $0.25 neon-colored rubber pourers (not buying pourers is not an option, party people—pourers help you pour exactly the same amount of liquid, each time you pour, which means consistent, tasty drinks). That's ok, get the cheap pourers and put one on an empty bottle you've filled with water.

Take out a shot glass. The small ones hold an ounce, the larger ones an ounce and a half. Put the shot glass in the sink and start pouring from your bottle into it. While you pour, count to evenly and slowly to four (six if you have a large shot glass); when you hit four, the glass should be full. Try again until you can count at a nice even pace and have the shot glass filled when you hit four. Now take out another glass—say, a tumbler—and pour four counts of water into that glass. Pour the water from the tumbler into the shot glass; you should fill the shot glass perfectly. Keep trying until you fill the shot glass pretty consistently—this should take about 20 minutes.

Congratulations, now you pour a quarter ounce of liquor for each count! So, when you build your Mojito, you want to pour six counts of rum, two counts of lime juice, fill with soda, and three counts of simple syrup. If you really practiced for twenty minutes, and maybe for another twenty right before the party, you'll actually be making pretty consistent, really tasty Mojitos. Your friends will be impressed and your party will be the social event of the season.

You can read more of Wade's writing at www.juniorbird.com, and you can contact him at wade@juniorbird.com.