Mojitos

The shoulders of summer are when I enjoy a mojito most. I think it’s partly the freshness of the mint - a dense nest of early summer leaves sun-warmed, releasing their fragrant oils, and a flush of late summer leaves following their hot-weather cutting back - and some of it is the ghost of autumn stealing a few degrees out of the early morning and late evening air. It makes me grateful for the sun that remains.

A sunny day cocktail needs something fruity, something edgy and something aromatic to set off the punch of the booze. A mojito answers that description perfectly - mint, sugar and lime set off the white rum, and soda water add the fizz.  

The classic mojito has 5 ingredients: rum, lime, sugar, mint and soda water.

Charlie’s mojito

A fine cocktail needs something fruity, something edgy and something aromatic to set off the punch of the booze. A mojito answers that description perfectly - mint, sugar and lime set off the white rum, and soda water add the fizz.  

It originates in Cuba and was derived from a drink called El Draque, invented in honour of Francis Drake. Or Charlie Drake as I once accidentally told everyone on a course I was running. It is a drink that rewards (in so many ways) a little experimentation, so in honour of the wrongly attributed Charlie, here is my own adaptation.

A classic English mojito has gin in place of the rum, so running with that, I’ve used tonic to take the place of the traditional soda water. Lemon verbena syrup adds the usual sugar and the lemon flavour that goes so well with the gin and tonic. In many ways, this is a gin and tonic mojito. It’s the sort of thing you should get knighted for coming up with. It’s most certainly the sort of drink that makes you wish for the next sunny evening. 

50ml gin

40ml lemon verbena syrup

1 lime, juice and skin

26 leaves of mint

Crushed ice

Tonic water

The ingredients should be very cold indeed. 

Add the lime juice, lime skin and mint to a bowl and pound the leaves with the end of a rolling pin - this is known as ‘muddling’ - to extract scent and flavour from the mint and lime skins.

Lift out the lime skins, and squeeze to extract all the juice. Add the lemon verbena and gin, stir and pour into a glass. Add ice and top with tonic to taste. Sit in the sun and enjoy.