On a whim, I bought a bunch of mint last weekend. I usually don’t use mint in anything. I don’t make minty desserts, and I don’t usually make minty cocktails. But, for some reason, I felt like buying some fresh mint and doing something with it. And what better use of fresh anything is there than for some cocktails?
The first thing most people think of when mint is mentioned with cocktails is probably the mojito.
Mojito
1.25 oz white rum
0.5 oz lime juice
12 mint leaves
0.5 oz simple syrup
club soda
sprig of mint
A classic. And for good reason, it’s a nice, refreshing drink. The mint leaves are muddled with the lime juice and simple syrup in the bottom of a glass, before ice and white rum is added. Top off with club soda and a sprig of mint as garnish. With the club soda in there, it’s not too sweet, but it’s also not too strong. Traditionally, it seems that actual sugar is used instead of simple syrup, probably to make the muddling easier, but I don’t like having sugar granules in my drink, so I used the syrup instead.
Another classic mint drink is the mint julep.
Mint Julep
2.5 oz bourbon
8 mint leaves
1 tablespoon sugar
spring of mint
To make this drink, you muddle the mint leaves and the sugar, then add the bourbon with some ice, and finally add the sprig of mint as garnish. Despite the whole tablespoon of sugar and the muddled mint, this drink tasted mostly like straight bourbon. I think there’s too much bourbon (at least in this recipe) for the mint and sugar to be very noticeable. I could taste a hint of the mint flavor and the sweetness from the sugar, but I thought the bourbon was overwhelming. Then again, I haven’t had the best relationship with bourbon. Maybe this would work nicely with a different spirit.
Finally, I tried a variation on the mojito from Asian Cocktails, the mango mojito.
Mango Mojito
3 lime wedges
1/2 teaspoon raw sugar
6 mint leaves
1.75 oz white rum
2 oz mango juice
0.25 oz simple syrup
club soda
mango slice
sprig of mint
The recipe says to squeeze the lime wedges into a mixing glass, and then drop the lime wedges in with the raw sugar and mint leaves. Muddle that together, then add ice, the rum, the mango juice, and the syrup, and shake. Strain that into a glass, top with club soda, and then garnish with a mango slice and a sprig of mint.
The original recipe had 2 teaspoons of mango syrup and 1 ounce of mango juice, but since I didn’t have mango syrup, I just doubled the mango juice and added some simple syrup. It still wasn’t that sweet, even though I could taste the mango. It could be that my glass was too big, so there was too much club soda. Refreshing drink, though.
I do enjoy the refreshing flavor of mint every once in a while. Some people say it reminds them of toothpaste, which is kind of true. But still, in the summer, I do like that cool mint flavor.