With pleasure inhaling the warm (finally! ) July air, we are looking forward to thirty-degree heat, beach, outings to nature and other summer joys. Hot tea, which sometimes had to be warmed in June, will no longer be needed.
And therefore our glance falls on refreshing drinks, which can be refreshed and cheer up. The famous Cuban drink Mojito, who liked to drink early in the morning, Ernest Hemingway, copes well with both of these tasks. The classical version contains rum – they say that Mojito with a double rum portion was prepared for Hemingway – but for those who do not drink (in the morning or in general), there is also a non-alcoholic option.
SHE correspondents visited the Mojito festival in the “IL Patio” restaurant, where barman Maxim Pohorukov showed how to prepare three kinds of Cuban drink.
Master-class on preparation of three kinds of mojito from the bartender of the restaurant “IL Patio”
Mojito is served with two cocktail tubes. They perform not only an aesthetic function – according to Maxim Pohorukov, the second can come in handy if someone wants to try your mojito.
Not everyone is ready to drink alcohol early in the morning, so start with a non-alcoholic version. We need 2 sprigs of mint, half lime, 2 dessert spoons of sugar, ice and any soda water (Bonakva, Perrier).
We cut off the mint leaves and cut the lime halves into three parts.
We send a mint to the glass for mojito, we put the pieces of lime on top.
Our task is to crush lime with mint so that they give juice. You can use any tool at hand – a pestle, a rolling pin or a crush for mashed potatoes. We will need this tool in the next stage.
Put a piece of ice on a napkin or towel …
… wrap the ice in a cloth and beat it on top of the selected tool. In such a simple way, you can crush ice at home.
The size of ice pieces should be at least 1-2 cm, otherwise you will get snow. Pour the resulting ice into a glass.
On top of sypem sugar. If you are thirsty or a huge company wants to freshen up, you can speed up the process by pre-preparing the sugar syrup. To do this, mix the sugar with hot water in a ratio of 50 to 50. For 1 cup of mojito – 2 tsp. syrup.
Fill with cold soda water.
We mix thoroughly, that the sugar is dissolved, and the lime juice is distributed evenly.
Decorate with a slice of lime and mint (it is better to use the top). Non-alcoholic mojito is ready.
In order to prepare a strawberry mojito, you will need all the same ingredients, plus strawberry berries. Three large berries should be taken for one portion.
Cut the strawberries into four pieces.
We spread it on mint and, again using the tool, we squeeze well, squeezing all the juices from lime, mint and strawberry.
The sequence is the same – ice, sugar, soda. And the strawberry mojito already beckons us with its fragrance and gently pink color.
If you still decide to relax in the evening, you can make mojito with alcohol. We carry out the previous manipulations, in addition we pour 30 g of rum …
… and 20 g of liquor “Curacao”.
Decorations made of lime and mint perfectly set off the deep blue color of the drink. Do not be surprised if after the mojito you will want to dance a rumba or sing after the “Forbidden Drummers”: “Cuba is far away, Cuba is near”.
