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Prep Time : 10

Cook Time : 2

Get the simple mojitos recipe, the traditional Cuban drink. The perfect refreshment for a warm day that's naturally gluten free!

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If you're anything like me and you just don't know what drink to order, so you just say a glass of wine would be fine, this mojitos recipe is for you. It's simple and lightly sweet, and goes down super easy. Make a pitcher of mojitos, some fresh gluten free corn tortillas, and maybe some pico de gallo? I'm never leaving your house.

Mojitos only have a few ingredients, and if you've never made your own cocktails at home you are really in for a treat. There's something restorative about having a tropical drink right in your own home—that you didn't open a screw-top mixer to make. And most of those screw top mixers? Gluten city.

I would be remiss if I did not remind you to muddle. Ever seen those long bar tools that taper to a flat edge on each end, one smooth and one irregular? It's a muddler. It is used like a mortar and pestle to press cocktail ingredients to release their goodness. Here, it's used to release the juice in the lime together with the essential oils in the fresh mint.

About adding sugar

You don't have to line the rim with coarsely ground sugar, but seriously—why wouldn't you? And there are instructions below for how to make your own simple syrup. The idea in making simple syrup for use in cocktails is not to cook the syrup (which changes its flavor and color), but rather just to heat it enough to dissolve the sugar in the water.

Sugar-in-the-raw is what I recommend for cocktail simple syrup because it dissolves easier. You can even make simple syrup just by shaking the mixture vigorously instead of heating it, but I find that it dissolves more fully when you heat it briefly. And the benefit of using simple syrup is a completely smooth drink, plus more sweetness with less sugar. Stir & enjoy!

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Mojitos Recipe

Get the simple mojitos recipe, the traditional Cuban drink. The perfect refreshment for a warm day that's naturally gluten free!

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Cuban

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 2

Yield: 1 mojito drink

Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

2 tablespoons simple syrup (plus more to taste) (See Recipe Notes)
Sugar-in-the-raw for the rim of the glass
½ lime quartered
10 whole leaves fresh mint
2 ounces rum
6 pieces ice
½ cup club soda (plus more)

Instructions

Dip a finger in the simple syrup and run it along the rim of a highball glass. Dip the rim in sugar-in-the-raw to coat.
Place 3 pieces of lime and all of the mint leaves in the bottom of the highball glass and press the side of a spoon against the side of the glass to crush the lime wedges and mint (to release the oils from the mint and juice the limes). This is called muddling, and you can use a muddler if you have one. If not, just use the back of a spoon.
Add the rum, and stir to combine.
Fill the glass with ice, and then with club soda.
Add the final lime wedge, then stir and serve immediately.

Notes

To make simple syrup.
Heat equal parts water and granulated sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the sugar is completely dissolved (about 1 minute).
Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before using.
Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.