By The Glass
1. Lime Juice (1 whole lime equals about 3 teaspoons) or use limejuice from

concentrate.

2. Sugar (2 heaping teaspoons)

3. Mint Leaves (freshest are the best!) You need about

4. Four to Five mint leaves per drink. (3 for mashing and 2 for garnish at the end)

5. Bicardi Limon (clear) Rum (2 oz)

6. Angostura Bitters (dash)

7. Ice

8. Club Soda (2/3 cup)

9. Straws (the green ones with the accordion top are cool)

10. A few mint leaves and one lime slice (for garnish)

Putting it all together:

1. Combine limejuice and sugar in small cup/bowl and mix up quickly. If you have a wooden spoon that works great. Then add three mint leaves and continue mixing. The key here is to press/mash the mint leaves firmly (about 30-45 seconds) in order to get the mint oil to mix in with the sugar and limejuice. (Personally, I think this is the heart of the drink and separates a good mohito

from a FANTASTIC MOHITO!) )))))

2. Pour the contents you created in Step 1 into a glass (10 oz tumbler seems to work well) and add a dash of Angostura bitters (this is strong stuff, only a light dash or two).

3. Add 2 oz of Rum to the glass. Stir well

4. Add ices (cubes or chipped work well, I don't prefer crushed because it melts too fast) to the glass about 1/2 to 2/3 the way up the glass.

5. Add 2/3 cup of Club Soda/Seltzer Water (fresh and bubbly, works the best. Try not to use club soda/seltzer water that has gone flat (remember our motto: The difference between a good mohito and a FANTASTIC MOHITO is in the details)

6. Add more ice to top off the drink if you need.

7. Add 1-2 leave of fresh mint as garnish on top.

8. Add slice of lime 1/8" to 1/4" thick works well.

By now you should be looking at the best mohito you have ever seen and every time you make one you will get a little better and faster. You can experiment with the amounts of min, sugar and limejuice to suit your taste but normally the amounts for rum, bitters and club soda should stay pretty constant.

Enjoy your Mohito - It will be Fantastic. To enhance the effect put on some

Cuban Jazz or Salsa music and you will float off to the islands.

Finer points of Mohito making:

1. When mashing the mint leaves with the limejuice and sugar the goal is to "press" the mint leaves enough to extract the mint oil so it will mix with the limejuice and sugar. If you "grind" the mint leaves too you will break them up a bit. This does not harm the taste in any way but you end up with little pieces of mint leaves float around at the bottom of the glass (which you might suck up through your straw). Actually, mint is good for digestion and it will not harm you to swallow a leaf or two. The main point here is "looks".

2. Bicardi Limon Rum has been consistently the best booze choice for this drink for me. If you are knocking them dead with your mohitos (using Bicardi Limon) you want to stick with that brand. I switched rums last time and people really noticed it.

3. The colder the mohito the better. Lots of ice!