Mojitos for 20?

We're having a party next weekend and are thinking about making mojitos, but I don't want to be muddling limes and mint all day. Any thoughts on how to make authentic-tasting mojitos for 20 people?

I don't think you can get away without muddling the limes and mint for the best flavor. However, you can muddle the limes with sugar and some of the mint in advance, add rum and then add soda and more mint at serving time.

I've had them made with lime-mint-flavored simple syrup and they don't taste nearly as good.

I saw this recipe in the Tribune yesterday....the article, "Sippin Pretty" had a few other tasty looking recipes.

www.chicagotribune.com/features/home/ch ... 0293.story


Mojito

Yield: 6 servings

1 cup simple syrup (see below)

5 sprigs fresh mint

2 limes, sliced

3/4 cup light rum

3 cups club soda

ice

To make simple syrup, combine 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water; cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Lightly muddle mint and lime in a pitcher. Add simple syrup; fill pitcher with ice. Add rum and club soda; stir and serve

I made Mojitos for a party a few years back. I muddled a bunch of limes, sugar and mint in a big bowl the afternoon of. Then, kept them refrigerated, replenishing the pitcher with each round of mojitos.

I don't want to be muddling limes and mint all day.

Would somebody kindly explain what is meant by muddling in this context? I looked in a dictionary which stated it is stirring slowing a drink, which doesn't seem to apply here. Is it squeezing limes and bruising mint?

Thanks!

Regards,

Using a wooden tool (the "muddler") to crush the limes and mint together, so the juice from the limes mixes with the mint oil.

Muddling is usally done with drinks that involve fruit and/or sugar, to crush the fruit or sugar cubes in order render a fresh taste, before adding ice and spirits (e.g., an old fashioned, a mint julep, mojito, etc.). If you just used a blender, for example, the taste wouldn't be nearly as strong, and you'd also be picking mint out of your teeth for days.

Muddling is easy enough to do, but you generally need to do it from scratch with every new cocktail, which is why I asked if any body had a volume approach.

http://www.drinkstuff.com/products/product.asp?ID=403#

Cathy2 wrote:

I don't want to be muddling limes and mint all day.

Would somebody kindly explain what is meant by muddling in this context? I looked in a dictionary which stated it is stirring slowing a drink, which doesn't seem to apply here. Is it squeezing limes and bruising mint?

Thanks!

Regards,

Think of it as making pesto (albeit with mint and sugar, not basil and garlic).

Hi everyone,

Two mojito questions:

1. I've found that a traditional mojito is too much like a sweet soda, and I almost feel like wolfing it down quickly on a hot day. Recently I've been making them with a splash of club soda, rather than the larger amount of club soda that is more traditional. This ends up being more like a cocktail, so to speak, than a soda. Anyone else experiment with this, or have a similar reaction to a traditional mojito?

2. I've always used regular sugar, and a lot of it doesn't dissolve. Would it be better to use superfine sugar or simple syrup, or does it not matter?

Thanks in advance

pcharrig wrote: If you just used a blender, for example, the taste wouldn't be nearly as strong, and you'd also be picking mint out of your teeth for days.

I make plenty of mojitos and tried it in a blender and found it tasted fine. You're correct about the mint leaves. I use sugar syrup, which works quite well. What about blending the lime, syrup, and mint, then straining to get rid of the leaves. I believe this could be done in a large batch shortly before guests arrive. To serve, just add some rum, ice, and a few mint leaves for garnish. Just a theory.

Traditional mojitos (as in the decades old Cuban tradition, not the year-old trendoid tradition), don't have all that much, if any, soda. Look at my description of how to make a large batch of caipirinhas, substitute light rum for the cachaca and add mint. Truly, Cuban yerba buena is the proper herb. Not the same mint that is widely available, but close. I prefer to get my mint for mojitos on Argyle.

If you are going to use simple syrup, try steeping a handful of mint or holy basil with the sugar water. Still add fresh mint to the drink. The "cooked" herb provides a nice depth.

I assume a Molcajete could be substitued for a muddler. I'm cooking up a couple of briskets overnight and plan to sip a few overnight.

JeffB wrote:The "cooked" herb provides a nice depth.

De gustibus.... This is exactly what I don't like about pre-made mint drinks (mojitos, julips, etc.) with mint infused the simple syrup. To me, they often wind up tasting harsh and toothpasty.

I don't much mind if the sugar doesn't dissolve, though -- the crunch adds something. However, if you don't like that, superfine sugar dissolves readily. And while unflavored simple syrup is OK in many drinks, muddling fruit or herbs with sugar helps extract more flavor, not only through the sugar's abrasiveness, but because it absorbs essential oils that otherwise float on the surface of the drink and evaporate.

I was suggesting"all of the above" -- muddling fresh mint and using simple syrup. The Crest Gel flavor you mention is exactly why I'm not a mojito fan, at least the style most often found north of Tampa. I think it has much to do with the variety of mint, though I agree the syrup modifies the flavor also. I think the varieties sold in Asian markets is better. But I'm sure the more bitter, less Cresty vegetal flavor of the Asian stuff would not appeal to exactly the choco-tini drinkers that represent the customer base for most establishments hawking mojitos.