Yet another mojito

My electric ice crusher (as opposed to my manual cube-crusher) has two settings, coarse ("C") and fine ("F") (..at least, that's how I interpret the letters). I had been using fine-crushed ice, but this last go-round I decided to try coarse-crushed.

No noticeable difference aside from a greater ability to slide the straw into the finished product. I suppose coarse-crushed allows for more soda to be added, as well, and I think I may prefer fine simply to avoid that result. Either way, using crushed ice (as opposed to cubed) presents a striking vision of a Mojito for cooling off - a minty-fresh libation in a glass filled with spirit and ice - could it get any better?

Mojito Revisited

Just a quickie. The other day I made another Mojito, this time topped off with club soda vice Sprite.

The lack of sweetness was apparent, but I can't say whether I really prefer one over the other. They're simply ... different. I will say that a club soda Mojito seemed to pair better with a meal (I happened to be having spicy buffalo wings, a good compliment to the cool drink) than the Sprite version.

However, after I'm finished with the drink it is my wont to (when I'm not in the mood to get tipsy) fill the glass with more mixer to make the most of the minty goodness, and I definitely prefer the Sprite for that purpose.

On that note - I think topping some muddled mint with Sprite would make a great "virgin" Mojito for any young ones (especially in the years where they desperately want to fit in with the adults).

Also, in a fun convergence of events, Thinking Bartender has published an in-depth post on Mojitos.

Perhaps I'll stir next time - My methodology so far has been to build in glass, shake a little, then add ice and soda. We'll see.

Poor Bartending Woes

Saturday night I was served by a bartender who could not make a Bay Breeze correctly. A Bay Breeze!

First of all, when I ordered, he got this confused look on his face and asked "Malibu Bay Breeze?", to which I replied "no, just normal".

He proceded to make me some sort of drink that included Bacardi, and what I think was pineapple and orange juice. Um, what?

I didn't say anything because I knew it was a lost cause. I drank the amalgam he made and went on my way.

*shakes head and sighs*

Mojito

The Mojito may be one of my new favorite cocktails. I have a feeling this one will make several appearances over the summer. I pretty much used the recipe linked above, but, since I currently did not have any club soda on hand, I used Sprite, instead. I greatly enjoy it, although I will try it with plain soda and see if I would like a drier version.

Yum yum.



Isn't that the perfect vessel for this drink? I used my PomTea glasses ;) Perfect.

Clover Club Cocktail

So, with this cocktail, I've made my foray into the raw egg as an ingredient. It has an enjoyable pink hue (and I do adore pink), but I'm not sure I really taste any "raspberry". It tastes, ah, very gin. Now, I don't normally drink gin, so that could contribute to my perception of overpowering gin flavor.

Perhaps I need to use another gin than Tanqueray. I'm not a gin connoisseur (well, let's face it - I'm not really a connoisseur in general), so I'm not sure if a different gin would imbue a more subtle flavor, or be more appropriate for this cocktail (such as the Aviator gin used on The Spirit World). Nonetheless, it's pretty tasty overall. A nice way for me to enjoy gin aside from the normal gin and tonic or martini.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz gin
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
• 0.25 oz raspberry syrup
• 1 egg's white, or 1 tbsp pasteurized egg white

Method

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake hard for about a minute to form a good froth. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Comments

I used Tanqueray, Torani Raspberry Syrup, and fresh egg white.

Possible substitutions include using lime juice instead of lemon juice, and using grenadine in place of raspberry syrup.

Coming soon: Clover Club Cocktail

I saw this recipe on The Spirit World... looks like a must-try for me. It's a little out of my comfort zone, since it uses gin, but piques my interest.

Will have to search out some Raspberry syrup (looks like they used Torani), which may be at the grocery store. It also suggested grenadine as a replacement, but those two have slightly different flavor profiles, though I may try it right away with that option (since I have it on hand).

Edit: If I can't find Torani, I've noticed some people using a Smucker's version of raspberry syrup... probably from their "fancy dessert swirly stuff" collection. So, maybe we'll try that if I can't find Torani.
It's fate - I was recently hoping for a good recipe to use my lemons.

Photo: Daiquiri

Tonight I made another daiquiri, and had the presence of mind to snap a photo before imbibing. The quality is not great, due to the fact that I use my camera-phone - it has great quality for a camera-phone, but pales in comparison to a regular digicam. Nonetheless, it's good enough to get my point across!