Verdict: Italian Mojitos

Who doesn’t love mojitos?  Whoever they are, they don’t live in my household.  Chris and I are huge mojito fans and so when I saw a recipe for “Italian Mojitos” from The Leftover Queen, I knew I had to make it.  This is a fun twist on the classic mojito and I think that, when I have all the ingredients in my house (as in all summer, when mint and basil are growing like weeds and selling for super cheap!), I’ll definitely make it again.  I’ll probably also make it when entertaining friends and family, because while it looks complicated and fancy, it’s a breeze to make, and it’s really refreshing.

Italian Mojitos
from The Leftover Queen

several lemon wedges
generous pinch/ small palm full of fresh basil
generous pinch/ small palm full of fresh mint
simple syrup (I used homemade mint simple syrup), to taste (I used about 2 TBS for each drink)

Muddle these ingredients together in a tall glass, then add 2 oz./one shot of dark rum.

Fill to top of glass with ice and club soda or seltzer water!

My thoughts:

- Simple syrup: 1 part white sugar to 1 part water (I used a cup of each).  For mint simple syrup, toss in a handful of roughly torn mint leaves as well; I used approximately ten.
- I used club soda, and lots of ice.
- In my first drink, I used one lemon wedge, two basil leaves and two mint leaves along with four teaspoons of the mint simple syrup.  The drink was a bit too bitter for me, so  I doubled the simple syrup and this fixed that problem.  However, the mint flavour was very powerful and the basil flavour unnoticeable.  Chris complained about a lack of rum flavour so I also added another .5oz to his drink, to total 2oz.
- Second drink, I used five basil leaves, two mint leaves, eight tsp of the simple syrup, and two lemon wedges (I kept on with the 1.5oz of rum, though).  The drink’s flavour was amazing, intense, and perfect.  Don’t be a weenie when it comes to the flavour here — really bump it up and enjoy the experience!