[Dahut-pm] Mojitos

[Robin Berjon]

Heya all!

Since it's the second dahut in two days to ask my for a Mojito  
recipe, I figure I'm better off sending this here :) Here goes:

  - you can use two different types of glasses: whisky-size or  
similar (but more solid), or long drink. The former is preferred.
  - fill to the brim with mint leaves, without pressing them down too  
much
  - throw in one to three teaspoons of brown sugar (depending on how  
sweet you want it).
  - add about half a lime cut up into pieces (say, 1/8th). You can  
put more if you like it more acid (but it can get quite acid fast  
with the rum).
  - crush all of that very thoroughly to the bottom of the glass. It  
must all mix into a mash, and you should feel like you just pressed  
juice out of the *mint*. You pretty much need the proper tooling  
here, not sure what the thingamagick is called, it more or less looks  
like a dildo. You might get around with using something else but  
honestly I don't know of good substitutes and really recommend  
getting one if you're serious about mojito-making. Note though, I  
haven't tried replacing it with a dildo.
   [I'm now told it's called as pestle. Well, use that. But if you do  
try with a dildo I'd love to know.]
  - add as much crushed ice (not too thinly, there should still be  
blocks of uneven size) as you can, above the brim. If you don't have  
an ice-crusher, put ice cubes in a towel and beat them to death with  
the pestle (or dildo).
  - pour in white rum *almost* up to the brim. The ice should crumble  
somewhat. The rum doesn't have to be very good (you shouldn't use the  
finest), but don't take the worst one either as it's still a the  
largest part of the drink. Also, quality alcohol gives lesser hangovers.
  - add just a touch of Perrier or other sparkling water. If you  
don't have any, lemonade (in the French sense, that is stuff like 7Up  
or Sprite — Mountain Dew has been suggested as an experiment) can do  
but you'll have to use less sugar.
  - shake the whole thing thoroughly. It doesn't have to be in a  
shaker, putting another glass upside down on the first one will work  
just fine.

Words of caution:

  - even if you're careful it'll get a bit messy and sticky around  
the preparation, so plan accordingly
  - using a pestle as hard as you have to here can give you a large  
blister in the palm which will make people ask if you're about to go  
blind or deaf
  - clean the dildo beforehand

As a bonus for the lazy, the Moscow Mule:

  - 1/4th vodka
  - 3/4th ginger ale

I found out about the latter in an excellent bar in Tokyo that we  
couldn't figure out any name for other than "Open Till Late" (the  
thing written largest in front of it). There's room for about 12  
people if you want to pack in tight, and everything is at ¥500 (i.e.  
really cheap). I've never seen the bartender change his facial  
expression except the one time when I sang the "Cucu song". If you go  
to Tokyo I highly recommend.

-- 
Robin Berjon
    Senior Research Scientist
    Expway, http://expway.com/