Mojito Recipes That Reinvent the Classic Cocktail

Minty and fizzy, mojitos are refreshing cocktails well-suited to warm-weather drinking. Ordering a round of may not be the best move at a busy bar. That’s why we’ve put together a list of make-at-home mojito recipes that reinvent the classic Cuban cocktail.

These are perfect for drinking on your porch or batching up for a party. Just make sure you don’t skip any steps. Muddling the mint is important, as it releases herbaceous oils into your drink. A muddling mistake many at-home bartenders make is tearing the leaves, which will give your cocktail too bitter of a taste. Rather, use your muddler to press down gently on the leaves and give a firm twist, repeating a few times.

Other than that, mojito recipes are pretty simple. Ingredients include a bouquet of mint, fresh lime juice, simple syrup, club soda, and rum. Go with a white rum, and you’ve got an easy sipper. Sub in a spiced rum or a dark rum, and you’ve concocted a cocktail with more nuance.

With those ground rules covered, here are six twists you can put on your next batch of mojitos. Summer weather is reason enough to perfect this rum drink; but it’s also worth noting National Mojito Day is July 11.

1. Old Bajan

Make your cocktail extra minty by repurposing the discarded mint stems from the mint leaves and incorporating them into a simple syrup. With the addition of Angostura bitters, this variation of a mojito is a nod to the neoclassical Old Cuban, says Mount Gay Rum brand amabassador Karen Grill.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Mount Gay Eclipse​
• 0.75 oz lime juice​
• 0.5 oz mint stem syrup*​
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters​
• 2 oz brut Champagne​

​*Mint stem syrup ingredients

• 10 to 20 leftover mint stems​
• 16 oz simple syrup​

​*Mint stem syrup instructions

1. To make simple syrup at home, bring sugar and water to a boil at a ratio of 1:1. Heat until dissolved, then cool.
2. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add leftover stems from picked mint and plunge into boiling water for 15 seconds.
3. Remove herbs from boiling water and immediately submerge in a bowl of ice water for 1 minute. Pat dry on a clean kitchen towel.
4. Add to blender with simple syrup. Blend for one minute. Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer and bottle. Keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Instructions

1. Add mint to the bottom of a tall cocktail glass.
2. Press mint with​ muddler or barspoon to release aroma, then add all ingredients to glass.
3. Add crushed ice and swizzle lightly to incorporate.​
4. Garnish with mint bouquet​.

2. Tattersall’s Blueberry Mojito

This recipe from Minneapolis’ Tattersall Distilling calls for a blueberry liqueur. To impart a fresh berry taste, you could also muddle in some berries with the mint leaves.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Tattersall Blackstrap Rum
• 1 oz Tattersall Blueberry Liqueur
• 1 oz lime juice
• 0.75 oz simple syrup
• 10 mint leaves

Instructions

1. To make simple syrup at home, bring sugar and water to a boil at a ratio of 1:1. Heat until dissolved, then let it cool.
2. In a cocktail shaker, muddle simple syrup, lime juice, and mint leaves.
3. Add remaining ingredients and ice.
4. Shake vigorously until well-chilled.
5. Strain into a lowball over fresh ice and garnish with a mint sprig.

3. Grilled Pineapple Mojito

When you char the pineapple on the grill for this recipe—created by Johnny Swet, a master mixologist and founding partner of Jimmy, which sits atop Modernhaus SoHo in New York City—it becomes perfectly caramelized and brings out the natural sweetness in the fruit. The fresh mint, lime, and soda tie all the flavors together.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Brugal Rum
• 0.5 lime juice
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 2 1-inch rings of grilled pineapple
• Splash of soda water
• Mint for garnish

Instructions

1. To make simple syrup at home, bring sugar and water to a boil at a ratio of 1:1. Heat until dissolved, then let it cool.
2. Grill a couple slices of 1-inch rings of pineapple until the fruit’s slightly charred, about 2 to 3 minutes each side. You’ll save a slice for garnish.
3. In a glass, add rum, lime juice, pineapple juice, and simple syrup. Muddle a scoop (about 1-2 tablespoons, depending on taste) of grilled pineapple with mint.
4. Add ice and top with a splash of soda water.

4. The Road Between Somewhere and Nowhere

Clayton Members Club and Hotel in Denver, Colorado, dials up Old Havana vibes with this mojito recipe by using an iconic rum with hints of vanilla, oak, banana and pineapple. (Havana Club rum was popular in Cuba’s nightspots and casinos in the late 1930s to the 1960s; the brand’s anejo blanco is distilled and aged in Puerto Rico, though). Fresh blood orange rounds out the drink with a tart punch.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Havana Club Anejo Blanco Rum
• 0.75 oz simple syrup
• 0.75 oz fresh lime juice
• 5 mint leaves
• 2 wedges blood orange, squeezed
• 1 oz club soda

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients into a metal shaker and shake vigorously.
2. Strain and pour over pebble ice in a Collins glass. Garnish with a blood orange wheel and mint sprig.

5. The French Riviera

To make an elevated mojito, start with a high-quality rum and sub in Champagne for club soda, like this recipe courtesy of The Wayward, a French-inspired restaurant in Philadelphia.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz Clément VSOP Rhum Vieux
• 0.75 oz Lillet Blanc
• 0.5 oz lime juice
• 0.5 oz simple syrup
• 6-8 mint leaves
• 4-6 ripe mango slices
• 2 oz sparkling wine or Champagne
• Mint sprig for garnish

Instructions

1. To make simple syrup at home, bring sugar and water to a boil at a ratio of 1:1. Heat until dissolved, then let it cool.
2. In a shaker, combine simple syrup, mango slices, and mint. Muddle for 15 seconds, then combine the rest of the ingredients in the shaker, leaving out the sparkling wine or Champagne. Add ice and shake for 15-20 seconds.
3. Strain shaken ingredients over fresh ice in a highball glass. Top with sparkling wine, and garnish with mango slices and a mint sprig.

6. Mojito Royale

The recipe is a cross between a daiquiri and mojito. But what makes it interesting is the rum: Equiano Light, a lightly aged molasses rum from the Caribbean is fused with fresh sugar cane juice rum from Africa.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Equiano Light
• 1 oz fresh lime juice
• 0.5 oz simple syrup
• 5 mint leaves
• Champagne float
• Mint garnish

Instructions

1. To make simple syrup at home, bring sugar and water to a boil at a ratio of 1:1. Heat until dissolved, then let it cool.
2. Combine rum, lime juice, and sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker.
3. Shake vigorously with ice and mint leaves. Strain in a martini glass.
4. Float a little champagne on top and garnish with mint.

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