Mojito madness
The mojito has become something of a cliché in the cocktail world. Its condemnation is the epitome of petty snobbishness, stemming principally from its popularity as opposed to the quality of the concoction. Although not a favourite of mine, it is worth drinking just to parry this jejune opinion and is a joy to drink with those in blissful ignorance of the mindless idiocy of cocktail etiquette.
Although the mojito tastes best with crushed ice, I have been known to shake the drink at home, as I have yet to invest in a machine that crushes ice for me. This has proved successful, although they can often taste a little too diluted from the process of shaking.
But shaking would not do on this occasion as I had upwards of ten people visiting, and was not keen on spending the night shaking cocktails. As such, I put my electric blender to the test and it passed with remarkable aplomb. However, all did not go perfectly. Instead of my usual Havana 3 year, all I could find in my badly stocked local liqueur store was Havana Añejo Especial. Very nice rum by all accounts, but it proved too overpowering for the mojito in my opinion.
Sadly the rum upset the balance of the drink, so a vast portion of my evening was spent in experimentation, trying to establish that intricate balance between rum, sugar, lime and mint that should make the drink a pleasure to drink. After more than a few disasters, I just about succeeded, but by this time I had been defeated and decided to opt for the simple pleasure of half a dozen ice-cold beers. It might be time to invest in a crushed ice maker…