Wednesday, May 19, 2010

the ginjito

It's almost criminal to eat Cuban food without Mojitos. But as I reached for the rum, mint, and limes, it felt a little predictable. While you can't really improve upon a drink as perfect as the Mojito, I wanted to tweak it slightly, just for fun.

I thought about adding lemons, or replacing the rum with gin, my favorite spirit, but then I spied some knobs of ginger hanging out in the refrigerator. Ginger would play well with the lime juice and add a nice, spicy contrast to the mint. And the Ginjito was born.

 Ginjito
(makes 1 drink)
1 lime, cut into eighths
3 sprigs of mint

1 generous shot of light rum
2 Tbsp. ginger syrup*
Cold soda water

In a cocktail shaker, combine the limes, mint, and rum. Use a muddler to crush the mint and limes and infuse the rum. Continue mashing until the limes are thoroughly drained of juice. Place the top on your shaker and give it a few good shakes. Strain the lime and mint-infused rum into a glass. Add the ginger syrup and top off with soda water.
Stir and taste. Garnish with a lime or spring of mint, if you desire.

*To make ginger simple syrup, place a cup of peeled chunks of fresh ginger root in a small saucepan containing 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Just before it comes to a bowl, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for at least 20 minutes, or overnight in the fridge. Remove the ginger before using. The syrup can be stored in a jar with a lid for up to a week.

It also makes a fantastic soda. Just add a few tablespoons to a glass of cold soda water, along with the juice of one lemon or lime.

3 comments:

Daniel said...

I like cocktails made with syrups because the syrup can also be mixed with seltzer for the nondrinkers like me. Unfortunately, there was only enough for me to have one glass of soda once the booze hounds had their fill. Still, better than nothing.

Casey@Good. Food. Stories. said...

Dan, I've started making more syrups and keeping them in the fridge for my seltzer too! Tarragon syrup is the current flavor of the week.

Mike said...

Wow, Tarragon syrup sounds really good.

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