Last week I arbitrarily disqualified the Mojito from Official Mixed Drink Of Summer in Regina 2011 contention because I said it was too trendy.
And I stand by that.
The Mojito and, worse, the Blah-Blah-Blah Mojito (the Strawberry Mojito, the Rhubarb Mojito, the Blackberry and Lime Mojito, the Gooseberry Mojito, the Skinny Mojito, the Dirty Mojito, the Funky Cold Mojito) clutter the menus of far too many strip-mall sports bars on the outskirts of our cities. I worried that every third commenter and their typing, cocktail-swilling dog would be suggesting the Mojito as this year’s cooler of choice. (Of course, for that to happen, we would have had to get up to three or more comments. And, who am I kidding? That just wasn’t going to happen.)
In hindsight I feel a little (just a little) guilty about excluding it because the Mojito, like the Margarita (another classic cocktail tragically hybridized, packaged, powdered, and otherwise corrupted by chain restaurants), is actually a pretty good cocktail in its original form….
Mojito
4 lime wedges
3 tsp sugar
10 sprigs fresh mint
2 oz light rum
club soda
Muddle lime, sugar and mint until sugar is dissolved in collins glass. Add rum. Fill with ice. Top with soda. Stir. Garnish with a few sprigs of mint.
See. It’s a simple drink that can be really delightful and refreshing if you pick a decent rum. (Or a total disaster if you don’t.) At the same time, enough Mojitos will be consumed on patios overlooking the boxstore parking lots that rim our city that the cocktail really doesn’t need the bump in popularity that will come from being named the Official Mixed Drink Of Summer in Regina 2011.
And besides, I’m far more intrigued by the cocktail suggestions of commenters anonymous and Collette: the Dark and Stormy and the Cuba Libre Cocktail. (And I’m of course hoping to get a few more suggestions before making a final announcement on what my go-to cooler will be this summer.) So, sorry Mojito. You’re on your own this summer. Still, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.
