I love the mojito! It's fresh and citrusy with a light, sweet flavor. It's one of my favorite summer drinks.
But it's also a pain to make.
The measuring, the muddling, the mixing... it's all a big hassle. I like making it for parties, but I often end up in a corner, mixing drinks, for a sizable portion of the evening. I love to have mojitos at home, but seldom do. It's just too much work.
So I decided to brainstorm. A couple of friends came over last weekend and we started to experiment. The goal was to develop a mixer that could be kept in the fridge or freezer. We boiled and stirred and muddled. We also tasted.
There was also a lot of tasting. Yum.
This is what we came up with, a mint-infused simple syrup that can be chilled or frozen. It's super easy and delish.
Here's what you need:
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of lime juice
zest from half a lime
two mint stalks
Put the water in a saucepan. Add the sugar and heat until boiling. Stir the syrup until the sugar dissolves.
Turn the heat off.
Muddle the mint stalks and put them in the pot. Add the lime zest. Let them steep in the syrup for an hour.
When the syrup cools, add the lime juice and stir.
Chill or freeze into ice cubes.
This syrup makes mojito-making a breeze. Just put an ounce of mixer (or an ice cube), an ounce of rum, and ice in a highball glass. Fill with seltzer and enjoy. You can garnish with a mint stalk or a piece of sugar cane if you're feeling fancy.
I hope this recipe makes your summer a lot more enjoyable.
Cheers!
Image from Morguefile.
