Mojito is one of the most popular cocktails in the world. It is originally from Cuba and known as a highball or a mixture of alcoholic base spirit and a larger portion of non-alcoholic mixer. The traditional version of Mojito consists of five ingredients; white rum, lime juice, sugar cane juice, soda water, and mint. There are quite a lot of versions of Mojito including the non-alcoholic ones that leave out the rum. The mixture of lime, soda, and mint makes it a perfect drink for summer.
The basic way to prepare a glass of mojito is by first pouring sugar cane juice (or simple syrup) into the glass then adding lime wedges and mint leaves. Then, the mixture is gently mashed with a muddler – it’s a bartender’s tool used to mash ingredients like herbs or fruits at the bottom of the glass. The mint leaves should only be crushed to release the flavor and aroma, not shredded. Rum is added last, stirred briefly to dissolve the sugar and bring mint leaves up, and then topped with crushed ice, fresh mint leaves and lime wedges. We will show you a few recipes of Russian Mojito that you should try, but before that, let us briefly see several other ways to prepare it.
Variations
Because Mojito is popular around the world, almost each place has its own version of the cocktail. In Havana, they add Angostura bitter to the mix to cut down the sweetness and replace sugar cane juice with icing sugar and fresh lime with lime juice. In Manchester, England, the bars use Lanique instead of rum – rose-flavored liquor – to make Rose Mojito. In Mexico, the rum is replaced with tequila to make Mojito Blanco. In Peru, fruits are added to the mixture to elevate the liveliness of the cocktail.
Other variations include a Cojito – uses coconut-flavored rum, a South Side – uses gin instead of rum, a Dirty Mojito – uses gold rum and brown sugar giving the cocktail a caramel-like flavor, and if you prefer to be on the safer side there’s a Virgin Mojito or Nojito that is made with no alcohol. And then there is a Russian Mojito that calls for Vodka to replace rum. Let’s get on with the recipes you can make on your own at home:
RUSSIAN MOJITO RECIPES
1. Chocolate Russian Mojito
Ingredients:
- A quarter lime, cut into 2 pieces
- 1 ½ oz of Simple Syrup
- 4 mint leaves
- Crushed ice
- 2 ½ to 3 oz of chocolate Vodka
Directions:
Get a pint glass or a cocktail shaker to muddle the lime pieces with Simple Syrup and mint leaves. Strain into a highball glass that has been filled with crushed ice, add the vodka, top with mint leaves.
2. Muddy Russian Mojito
Ingredients:
- 2 shots of Absolut Vodka
- 3 pieces of lime
- 5 mint leaves
- 5 shots of sparkling or soda water
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
- Crushed ice
Directions:
Put the pieces of lime, brown sugar and mint leaves in a cocktail glass. Crush the mixture with a pestle or muddler; pour in the Absolut Vodka then sparkling or soda water, top with crushed ice and garnish as you like.
3. Classic Russian Mojito
Ingredients:
- 1 oz of Citrus Vodka
- ½ lime – cut into wedges
- 12 mint leaves
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- Champagne
- Ice rocks
- Lime wedges and mint leaves for garnish
- A highball glass
Directions:
Put the ½ lime, mint leaves and sugar in the highball glass, then muddle. Fill the glass with ice, add in the citrus vodka and champagne. Stir briefly then top with garnish.
4. Grape-Rose Russian Mojito
Ingredients:
- Wedges of grapefruit
- Cuts of rosemary
- Simple Syrup
- Soda water
- Absolut Vodka
- Crushed ice
- A highball glass
Directions:
Pestle or muddle the rosemary, grapefruit and simple syrup at the bottom of the highball glass. Pour in the soda water and Absolut Vodka, stir gently. Top with ice and garnish with wedges of grapefruit and rosemary.
You can see now that Mojito is a very flexible cocktail. Its versatility can be matched with Kahlua’s. So many variations can be made out of the basic idea of a glass of Mojito. The rum can be replaced with tequila, gin, bourbon or vodka. The mint leaves can be replaced with rosemary, thyme, basil or tarragon. As for the lime, it can be switched into tangerine, orange, lemon or grapefruit. If you don’t mind the sweet, try using palm sugar, syrup or caramel to take the place of sugar cane. The soda water can be replaced with something else that suits your palate better; maybe lime soda or plainly mineral water.
Bars in the summer would offer a lot of fruity variations of Mojito like pear, peach, mango, raspberry, and many more fruits the season has to offer. The method of preparation will always be the same, though, and it is advised to pour the sugar after the lime and not the other way around to avoid the sugar getting clumpy if you use the powdered one instead of syrup of juice. So, it is safe to say that the key to a glass of Mojito lies in the way you prepare it and how the six main ingredients should always present even though they can be replaced with all sorts of options.
You have now also learned that when a mixture of alcoholic drink is named Russian, it is not necessarily because the cocktail is invented in Russia; but more because the liquor used in the concoction is Vodka – the pride of the Russia. You can now go ahead and try out the Russian Mojito recipes above to refresh your day and feel recharged.