There are few things more refreshing on a hot summer day than a mojito. My CSA share came with mint this week as well, so mojitos sounded like a perfect drink for this little heat wave we are experiencing in Philadelphia. I didn’t want to just make a classic mojito so I was happy that the CSA share came with strawberries as well.
Ingredients (per serving):
1 teaspoon simple syrup
2 fresh strawberries, halved
Mint leaves from 1-2 sprigs
Sparkling water (club soda)
1/2 lime
2 ounces light rum
Ice
To make simple syrup, combine 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water in a saute pan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Cool.
Prepare your strawberries. Remove the stem from the strawberries and cut in half.
Add the juice from 1/2 a lime, two strawberries (4 halves), 1 teaspoon simple syrup, and the mint leaves to a glass.
Using a muddler or the back of a spoon, muddle the ingredients together. Muddling is crushing ingredients to allow the flavors and oils to be released and combine.
Add two ounces rum and ice, and shake to combine. Fill with sparkling water.
This is so refreshing. I made mine with very little simple syrup; I prefer my mojito to be more minty than sweet. Feel free to adapt the amount of each ingredient to your tastes. This recipe can also be changed to use watermelon, raspberries, or whatever else sounds good to you.