Whatever is mint to be will be.
It’s been a hell of a week y’all.
“William its barely been over three days…”
Yeah, and its been a week. Working on projects and putting out fires can cause me to lose sense of time. Thankfully this means I still have a few days left to tie up some loose ends.
“William, we don’t really care about your life issues or your problems, just what you made this week to cope with those problems like a real adult…”
Of course y’all; when I need to de-stress its always nice to go to a Mojito. The blend of sugar, lime, and rum helps to transport me back to the memories of exploring Cartagena with my buddies and ending up in a Cuban bar where they crafted a fantastic Mojito.
Turns out people have been drinking Mojitos for nearly 600 years. South American natives gave Sir Francis Drake aguarediente de cana (Literally Fire Water from Sugar Cane), mint leaves, and the juices from sugar cane and limes to put together a tonic to help allow his crew to combat whatever fancy seafaring diseases they picked up from not eating a balanced diet. Turns out it was really only the lime juice that they needed but if you’re on a beach being pursued by natives because you want to take their gold for the glory of your imperialistic monarchy I understand the need to de-stress as well.
The only difference from normal Mojitos and my Topo-Jito is I substitute TopoChico for Soda water and I use a Mint Simple Syrup rather than sugar cubes. I ain’t your dad so y’all use what you like if you prefer one or the other.
William’s Topo-Jito
Pre-Prep
Craft your Mint Simple Syrup: Take 1 Cup of Water and add 1/2 Cup of Sugar into a sauce pan. Make sure that Sugar is dissolved with the water and turn up the heat but do not boil. Once you see some steam coming from your saucepan add a sprig or two of Mint (I add a few sprigs because mint is delicious, and this syrup can be used in other cocktails as well). Simmer and stir until your liquid becomes syrup-y. Set it aside to cool to room temperature and bottle liquid in a container and stick it in your fridge.
Recipe
1. Fill a highball glass with a quarter of a Lime, and a splash of your Mint Simple Syrup.(Any big glass that you like will do, your plastic cup from Dickey’s will work and you can put more Rum in it.)
2. Take your mint leaves and place them in your palm and give them a good clap. (This releases the oils of the mint because they are shocked that you would hit them like that.)
3. Add your smacked Mint and use your muddler to muddle all the ingredients together.
(The back end of a wooden spoon works just as well if you cannot afford a fancy muddler.)
3. Add Ice to your glass.
4. Add 2 oz of White Rum to your Mint/Lime/Syrup mixture. (I have no frame of reference for what brand you should use Rum wise, I’ll need to drink more and get back to y’all on that.)
5. Stir all ingredients together so they can all mingle around and get mixed up.
6. Fill the remaining space of your cup with Topochico and give it another stir.
7. Take your glass and go sit on a beach or where ever you de-stress.
Cheers y’all,
William
W Is For Will 
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