DRINK OF THE MONTH | SEPTEMBER
There are some cocktails that don't need reinventing.
A classic mojito—with fresh mint, bright lime, white rum and sparkling club soda—is one of them.
It's crisp, refreshing and remarkably simple to make at home. And as summer begins to give way to early fall, we think it's just right for September: still cool and refreshing for warm afternoons, but classic enough for an easy dinner with friends or a relaxed evening at home.
This month, we're making the classic mojito our September Drink of the Month—and adding two little extras: an easy raspberry variation and a simple way to keep fresh mint growing right in your kitchen.
Because if we're going to make mojitos at home, having fresh mint within reach sounds like a very good idea.
What Is a Mojito?
The mojito is a classic Cuban cocktail traditionally built around a handful of simple ingredients: white rum, fresh lime, mint, sugar and soda water.
What makes it so refreshing is the balance. Lime provides brightness and acidity, mint adds that unmistakably fresh flavor, a little sweetness softens the citrus, and club soda keeps everything light and sparkling.
And despite how impressive a tall, ice-filled mojito looks, it's actually a surprisingly easy cocktail to make at home.
Our Easy Classic Mojito Recipe
Makes 1 cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 oz white rum
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar or ¾ oz simple syrup
- 6–8 fresh mint leaves, plus a sprig for garnish
- Club soda
- Ice
- Fresh lime wedge or wheel, for garnish
How to Make a Mojito
Add the fresh mint leaves, lime juice and sugar to a tall glass.
Gently press the mint with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon just enough to release its aroma and flavor. Don't pulverize the leaves. Overworking mint can introduce unwanted bitterness into the drink.
Add the white rum and stir.
Fill the glass generously with ice, then top with club soda.
Give everything a gentle stir and garnish with a fresh sprig of mint and a wedge or wheel of lime.
Simple, cold and incredibly refreshing.
Baylen Lane Tip
Before adding your mint garnish, place the sprig in the palm of your hand and give it one gentle clap with your other hand. This helps release some of the mint's aroma before you place it in the glass.
And always use fresh lime juice when you can. With so few ingredients in a mojito, those fresh flavors really do matter.
Make It a Raspberry Mojito
Here's where we can have a little fun with the classic.
Just add Raspberry simple syrup - It adds raspberry flavor and sweetness at the same time, so you can use it instead of the regular sugar/simple syrup in the mojito. Start with about ½–¾ oz raspberry syrup per cocktail and adjust to taste.
Alternatively, fresh raspberries pair beautifully with lime and mint, and turning the original into a raspberry mojito takes almost no additional effort.
Add 4–6 fresh raspberries to the glass along with the mint, lime and sugar. Gently muddle them together before adding the rum, ice and club soda.
The berries add a naturally fruity flavor and give the cocktail a beautiful blush color.
Garnish with a few additional raspberries, fresh mint and lime.
It's an easy variation when you're entertaining, and a particularly pretty option for a late-summer gathering. Raspberry, mint, lime and white rum are also an established mojito combination, so this variation stays close to the spirit of the original cocktail.
Love Mojitos? Grow Fresh Mint Indoors
Here's one of our favorite ideas for making this cocktail even easier to enjoy at home:
Grow your own mint.
Mint is one of those wonderfully useful herbs that can go from kitchen to cocktail glass. Use it for mojitos, iced tea, fruit salads, infused water, desserts and garnishes—and you don't necessarily need a garden to grow it.
Mint can be grown indoors on a sunny windowsill, making it an approachable little kitchen herb garden even if outdoor space is limited.
How to Grow Mint Indoors
Start with a small mint plant rather than seeds if you want something you can begin harvesting relatively quickly.
Give it its own container with good drainage. Mint is an enthusiastic grower and spreads readily, which is one reason experts recommend containing it rather than allowing it free rein in a garden.
Place your mint near a bright, sunny window. UC Master Gardeners recommends about six hours of bright window light for indoor mint; supplemental lighting can be used when natural light isn't sufficient.
Keep the soil moist but avoid leaving the roots sitting in water.
And don't be afraid to use it. Regularly pinching or cutting stems encourages the plant to branch and continue producing fresh leaves.
Imagine needing fresh mint for a Friday-night mojito and simply snipping a few sprigs from the kitchen window.
Useful and beautiful—we're very much in favor of that.
What to Serve With Mojitos
Because mojitos are bright, citrusy and refreshing, we like them with equally unfussy food.
Think grilled shrimp, fish tacos, fresh salsa and tortilla chips, a simple charcuterie board, grilled chicken or a light summer salad.
For entertaining, you can also set out lime wedges, mint sprigs and fresh raspberries and let guests choose between a classic mojito or raspberry mojito.
It's an easy way to make a simple cocktail feel a little more special.
The Baylen Lane Take
Some recipes earn their place by being new and unexpected.
Others earn it by being so good that we keep coming back to them.
The mojito falls firmly into the second category.
Fresh mint. Tart lime. White rum. Plenty of ice and a little sparkle.
Make the classic. Add fresh raspberries when you're in the mood for something fruity. And perhaps keep a little pot of mint growing on the kitchen windowsill so you're always ready for the next one.
Cheers to September.
Discover more recipes, entertaining ideas and ways to make everyday living a little more beautiful at BaylenLane.com.
Please enjoy responsibly.