For the 4th of July weekend, I offered up a Basil Mojito. It's a lovely cocktail and quite sufficient, yet I was left wondering. About that mint? What if I did both basil and mint? What would happen?
I did the experiment and I'm very happy. Now, there are three ways for Suzen and me to enjoy our mojito: classic mint, new basil or blended mint + basil.
Here is the recipe with the suggested amounts of basil and mint given both in leaf counts and grams. Basil leaves are bigger, so you need fewer of them that the mint. I did have the same physical weight in basil and in mint. So, I suggest measuring. Those leaves are light which is why we are measuring in grams, not ounces. It's okay. You do have a scale that goes to the gram-level. You do. Right? Here's your final excuse to go get one. Threre are 28 grams in 1 ounce so measurement by grams is much, much finer. And here we are talking about a few grams, just a fraction of an ounce.
Muddle away.
Mint + Basil Mojito
Yield: 2 cocktails
Ingredients:
- 6 basil leaves, or t 3 grams
- 9 mint leaves, or 3 grams
- Juice of two limes
- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 5 ounces of white rum
- Club soda [optional]
Preparation:
In a cocktail shaker, add the basil,mint, lime juice and sugar. Muddle until the leaves are well decimated — and that takes time which means you need to be patient!
Add the rum and fill the cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and pour into two glasses filled with ice cubes.
If you desire, you can dilute this beverage with some soda water, but I truly believe that full strength is the way to go.
Source: Brian O’Rourke with input from many websites
Photo Information [top and bottom]: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/3.5 for1/30th second at ISO‑250