The Mojito

Several years ago our daughter Laurie described a drink called a "mojito" comprised of rum, lime juice, mint, simple syrup over ice and shaken well and then topped off with club soda.  Shaw's Crab House in Chicago is where I sipped my first mojito and immediately decided this was the best libation ever.  I learned this is the drink Ernest Hemingway enjoyed at the Mojito Bar when he resided in Cuba.

With our bountiful supply of fresh mint, making a mojito is easy except for the simple syrup.  But I enjoyed the drink so much a supply of simple syrup was kept on hand in the refrig.  

Last year or maybe the year before,  the Bacardi Rum company came out with a mojito mix -- all one had to do was add the fresh mint and the club soda.   Delicious!  

The mint is now young and lush.  For the past several evenings, I've had my mojito and Ed his beer.  I became tipsy.  Surprised as I was, I chalked this up to drinking the mojito on an empty stomach.  Wrong!  

I WAS DRINKING THE BACARDI MIX STRAIGHT WITHOUT ANY CLUB SODA!