7DaysinParadise
Cuba => A Taste of Cuba => Topic started by: JJay on May 27, 2006, 03:03:00 PM
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I've just learned that my friend has mint growing at the bottom of their garden. Yippee. I've got an idea of how to make them from watching the bartenders but does anyone have a particular way of making them.
I'm just about to pop round now and do a bit of gardening for her!!!
All recipes gratefully received.
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I watched the bar tender in Coz make them. They were really good, as good as Tefy's at Bohemia Havana.
I think the secret is to work the mint and sugar together and not add too much rum.
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They had rum in them :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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My mint in the garden is ready for the mojitos.
Now I just have to figure out how to make them. Trial and error. :rof: :rof:
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Mine tasted fowl. Perhaps English mint just won't do. It certainly looks completely different to the mint in Cuba. I tried crushing it well but it really was the worst drink I have ever tasted.
I did of course force it down because it contained alcohol!!!
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I haven't actually tried to make one yet, maybe I'll try tonight.
I'll let you know how it tastes.
I have spearmint, peppermint and chocolate mint growing.
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I can't remember where I read it, but there is a special kind of mint used to make Mojitos...
Personally, I tend to go light on the mint, and heavy on the rum ;) ;) ;)
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Originally posted by Gambitt:
I can't remember where I read it, but there is a special kind of mint used to make Mojitos...
I had read that too when I planted my mint last year. I Googled it and found an anwer on Cuba Mania-- Cuban mint or "Mentha nemorosa Willd. is actually a cross between spearmint Mentha spicata L. and the round leaved mint or apple mint Mentha suaveolens Ehrh". From this I take it that our closest match in mints would be spearamint. I read that you definitely should not use peppermint. I must go out in my garden and read the little sign to see what I bought this year ;) ...... :moj:
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I have lots of spearmint so I'm ok. :D
I'm going to try the chocolate mint in a mojito, I'll do the taste challenge. Yeah I know it's a tough job but somebody has to do it. :rof: :rof:
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My Mojito method (I used to manage a Cuban restaurant/ bar & was taught by the best!):
In a highball glass drop in three pinched sprigs of mint, including the stems - preferably from the top of the plant!
Add 1 heaping tspn white sugar
Add 1/2 tspn lime juice - preferably squeezed from 1/4 of fresh lime!
Mottle with a long teaspoon - bar-type. The purpose is to release the essence of the mint into the lime and sugar.
Add ice and 1 & 1/2 ozs. of HC. My preference is Anejo Reserva, but my Cuban friends tell me it should be made with 3 yr!
Add sparkling Mineral water (Club Soda will also do in a pinch).
And 2 drops of Angostura Bitters - this is the traditional way of making it, but I know some of you hate the Bitters...to each their own, I say.
Stir with long spoon (to bring the mint up from the bottom and ensure that sugar is liquified). For parties, serve with a straw and a sprig of fresh mint stuck in the end of the straw.
If you still don't get it right, I just might have to have a Mojito-making party over here this summer! I could teach you all a few Cuban cocktails...that might even make Tefy jealous! ;)
Charmainiac
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thanks for the recipe Char :D
I tried it out today, and they turned out perfectly.
Fresh picked mint from the garden was fabulous.
the first batch I tried, I didn't put enough sugar in, but the second batch was better and now on to the third. :rof: :rof:
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You're very welcome Heather! I know what you mean about the sugar! I actually use 2 tspns for my own Mojito's but everbody around me always complains that they're too sweet, so I use 2 for me and 1 for everyone else!
And I have the mint growing out back too...hmmm, come to think of it...I think I'll go and get to work on my first batch!
You must be on your 4th by now! :rof: :rof: :rof:
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No wonder my tasted horrible I thought it was made with lemonade. I'll have to give it another try but with mineral water. The rest of it I did correctly.
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I tried it, to the recipee above, mine didn't taske right either, I think I may have put to much mint in, it tasted horrible. never mind roll on Oct, when I can taste a proper one again.
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DH found mint in our garden too - thought it had died years ago.
Still experimenting, but like all good barmaids, I'm drinking my mistakes ;)
PS the recipe on the Havana Club 3year old light rum that we bought in Cuba works well - at least my translation of it from the Spanish does :moj:
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Huskypup, sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you.
What tasted horrible about it? Was it bitter? Or bland? or Over-powering? Weak on the rum?
Check on the amount of mint, but first I would play around with the sugar - it's almost always the culprit in a bad-tasting Mojito! People, generally speaking, like the taste of sugar more than they think in this drink.
And I hope you're doing like Lunagirl... ;)
Bartending is an art of chemistry and EVERY single person's pallette is different, so what works in my Mojito recipe may not work exactly right for everyone. But it gives you all the basic ingredients, form there, you will have to play around until you get it exactly as you like it.
Here's to all our Mojito's being exactly right! :moj:
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I am convinced that it was the mint, it tasted too minty, I don't think that I mashed it down enough - and yes I did drink it, Ive run out of all the rum I brought back from Cuba - so I have had to resort to buying it from Sainsburys at £19 per bottle :eek: I think its about £3 in Cuba.
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If it tasted too minty, don't mash it any more!
Use half the mint and remember, you are only trying to bruise the mint to let out the "essence" or natural oils/ juices. And don't forget to include the stems with the mint - many people figure they're useless, but they have some great flavour too!
Sorry to hear about the price difference of rum in the UK! Eeek!
Happy Mojito-Mixing! :9:
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I was in Winners yesterday and picked up a tin of Mojito rimming sugar.
It is a tin of 5 oz of mint infused citrus sugar that you use to rim your mojito glass.
$6.99 from Winners.
Made by Urban Accents (http://www.urbanaccents.com/)
:moj:
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I must look for that the next time I am in Winners! I picked some mint and have my limes and so tonight I am trying out Charmainiac's recipe. :moj:
I was just flipping through the Epicure Selections catalogue looking for a recipe for my daughter and I found that they sell the Mojito glass rimmer as well. They also have a Cuban Spice Blend. Epicure Selections (http://www.epicureselections.com/english/whats-new/whats-new.htm)