Watermelon Mojitos

Mojitos are one of my favorite summertime cocktails. The basic mojito is made with lime juice, fresh mint and rum, and it is a drink that is always incredibly refreshing. Those base ingredients are also a good starting point for creative variations on the classic mojito because you can add other fruits and flavors easily to create endless options for summertime entertaining. These Watermelon Mojitos are particularly refreshing and they are one of my go-to hot weather cocktails this summer. The mojitos include plenty of fresh watermelon, which is muddled into a puree alongside the fresh mint, sugar and lime juice. It not only gives the cocktails a pretty pink color, but it gives them a nice sweetness, as well.

This recipe makes one cocktail, as I usually assemble mojitos in the glasses that I am going to serve them in. They key to a mojito is muddling, the process of crushing up ingredients with a muddler, though another other flat tool can be used if you don’t have a muddler. Muddling brings out the oils in the mint, infusing the drink with a strong mint flavor with minimal effort. After all the ingredients are combined, I add in ice and give the drink a stir with bar spoon to ensure everything is well-blended  and nicely chilled (using chilled watermelon keeps everything cool). The finishing touch on top of this drink is a splash of soda water to add a little fizzy lightness before serving..

If you want to make up a batch, it is faster to combine all the ingredients (except soda) in a cocktail shaker, muddle them together and shake them with ice. The batch recipe can then be strained over ice into waiting glasses and topped with soda water before serving. Feel free to add slightly more mint or sugar to taste, as the amount of mint will vary based on the size of your mint leaves and watermelons, even at the height of watermelon season, can vary in sweetness.

Watermelon Mojito
4-6 mint leaves
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed (1/2 lime)
4 oz fresh watermelon, cubed
1 1/2 oz white rum
soda water

In a tall glass, muddle together mint leaves, sugar and lime juice until sugar is dissolved and mint is thoroughly bruised. Add in cubed watermelon and crush melon with the muddle until watermelon is almost a puree. Add in rum and fill glass with ice. Top with a splash of soda water, garnish with a slice of watermelon and serve.

Makes 1.