Nojito (Shaken Mint & Lime Mocktail)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A mojito built like a real cocktail, minus the rum. A quick blanched-mint syrup keeps the color electric green instead of muddy, a splash of verjus or white grape juice replaces the backbone rum usually provides, and a few drops of saline make the lime taste twice as bright. Shaken hard, strained over fresh ice, topped with soda and finished with a slapped mint crown.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups loosely packed fresh mint leaves and tender stems
• 1 pinch kosher salt

• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 tsp warm water

• 16 leaves fresh mint, plus 2 sprigs for garnish
• 3 oz fresh lime juice (from about 3 limes)
• 2 1/2 oz bright mint syrup, from above
• 2 oz verjus blanc or unsweetened white grape juice
• 6 drops saline solution
• 6 oz chilled club soda or sparkling mineral water
• ice cubes, for shaking
• crushed ice, for serving

• 2 wheels lime, thinly sliced
• 2 large mint sprigs (bushy tops)
• long straws

Instructions

1. Make the syrup base: combine the sugar, water and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring just until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
2. Blanch the mint: bring a small pot of water to a boil, drop in the 1 1/2 cups mint leaves and stems, and count 15 seconds. Scoop the mint out with a slotted spoon straight into a bowl of ice water. This 15-second blanch locks in the green and shuts off the enzyme that turns muddled mint syrup brown.
3. Squeeze the chilled mint dry in your hands, then blend it with the warm sugar syrup in a blender on high for 45 seconds, until vividly green. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids, and chill. The syrup keeps 1 week refrigerated or 3 months frozen.
4. Stir the fine sea salt into the 4 teaspoons warm water until dissolved to make the saline solution; store in a small dropper bottle or jar.
5. Chill two tall glasses (Collins or highball) in the freezer for 10 minutes while you set up.
6. Put the 16 mint leaves in the bottom of a cocktail shaker with the lime juice. Press them gently with a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon 5 or 6 times, just enough to release the oils. Do not grind or shred them, or the drink turns bitter and grassy.
7. Add the mint syrup, verjus and saline to the shaker, then fill it two-thirds with ice cubes. Seal and shake hard for 12 seconds, until the outside of the tin frosts over.
8. Pack the chilled glasses with crushed ice. Double-strain the shaken mixture through a fine-mesh sieve over the ice, dividing it evenly, which gives you a clean, leaf-free pour with a pale-green foam on top.
9. Top each glass with 3 oz club soda, pouring slowly down the side of the glass to keep the bubbles. Give one gentle lift with a bar spoon from the bottom to marry the layers without knocking out the fizz.
10. Slide a lime wheel down the inside of each glass. Slap a mint sprig once between your palms to wake up the oils and plant it at the edge of the ice, right where the straw sits, so every sip smells like mint. Serve immediately.
11. Add a small handful of crushed ice on top to dome it above the rim, then serve with a long straw.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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