Ah, the Mojito. Arguably the world's most
popular cocktail, and one of the greats that came out of Cuba.
Now, if we were in Cuba we'd likely be using
a Havana Club, aged 3 years to make this.
But we can't really get that here in the United States.
So make sure you're just using a light rum that's smooth
and pleasant, not too funky. Here I'm using a 3 year aged rum from Panama.
The Mojito is essentially a Rum Collins, but with Mint.
Now when choosing your mint, of course make sure it is fresh and grab Spearmint.
Which has a lower menthol content than something like Peppermint.
Today we're going to make three versions of the Mojito,
with the last version needing our chemist goggles,
because we're going to be using liquid nitrogen. Lets go.
The first version comes from La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba.
The bar that popularized this drink in the 1950's.
And we're going to start by adding two teaspoons of white sugar to a Collins glass.
Then we're going to squeeze the juice of half a lime directly into the glass.
Then you're going to grab two healthy sprigs of mint, stems and all, and just fold them into the glass.
Then pour in about 3 oz. or 90 ml of fresh, cold soda water.
Now the next step here is to go to town with a muddler.
You're trying to extract some of those mint oils,
and mix up the sugar, lime juice, and soda water.
This part makes me cringe a bit because you're releasing all that effervescence from the soda water,
but that's how they do it.
Then you're going to take your rum and eyeball about 1.5 oz. or 45 ml.
Drop in about 3 or 4 cubes of ice,
insert your sippy cylinder, give it a quick stir,
and let's have our first dance with the Mojito.
And it's delicious. The mint really comes through and it's super refreshing.
You do get some sugar on the bottom, and sometimes the mint clogs up the straw,
but it's a really quick way to make a Mojito.
While that first version is great if you need to make 30 of these for thirsty tourists,
at home we can slow this down a bit and be a bit more precise.
And that starts with using simple syrup instead of granulated sugar.
So here we're using a 1 to 1 ratio of sugar to water.
Let's start by extracting some of those mint oils.
We're going to put 10-12 mint leaves into a shaker glass
and then add in 1 oz. or 30 ml of our simple syrup.
We're just trying to extract the mint oils into that simple syrup
and not release some of that bitter chlorophyll that comes from over-muddling.
After that we need our acid, so we're going to add 0.75 oz. or about 22 ml of fresh lime juice.
Then 2 oz. or 60 ml of our rum.
Then we're going to add that to a shaker tin with ice and shake for about 15 seconds.
And while we do that let's talk a bit about the history of the drink.
Now like most popular cocktails, the true origin is a bit murky.
So while this is almost certainly of Cuban origin,
it's possible it was derivative of a similar drink called El Draque.
Which was named after the 16th century privateer, Sir Francis Drake.
Once we're done shaking, we're going to take another Collins glass and add a clear ice spear to it.
And you're definitely going to want to double strain this to catch any bits of
mint, or lime pulp, or ice chips.
Then we're going to top it with about 1 oz. or 30 ml of our club soda,
And then grab a fresh mint sprig,
clap it in your hand to release some of the aroma,
and tuck it in on top of the drink.
Now let's put that sippy cylinder to work again and see how this one compares to the first one.
You start with that strong hit of mint on the nose,
and ultimately I think this one is more balanced.
The sugar is fully incorporated with the simple syrup,
you don't have any bits of mint clogging up the straw,
I think this is an improvement, although it's a bit more labor intensive.
But that's nothing compared to what we're about to do with liquid nitrogen.
Now first and most important:
Use liquid nitrogen only if you have been trained and are aware of all the hazards involved.
Liquid nitrogen is liquefied nitrogen gas,
and at -196ºC it can give you a nasty cold burn.
Ingesting it can be catastrophic and getting it in your eyes can blind you.
Always wear safety goggles when handling it,
and though it will vaporize if it splashes on your hand due to the Leidenfrost effect,
you'll want gloves if you're handling any super chilled metal.
Also, do not handle liquid nitrogen in an enclosed space without ventilation,
and never store it in a closed container.
It should be stored in a tank like this called a Dewar,
which can also be filled up at a local welding supply shop.
Again, use liquid nitrogen at your own risk.
But today we're going to use Dave Arnold's Nitro-muddling technique
to make the freshest, most powerful Mojito you've ever had.
So here's the chemistry behind this:
You muddle to get fresh flavors out of a mint leaf, like this.
But muddling also activates polyphenol oxidases, or PPOs.
Which are enzymes that cause fruit and herbs to turn brown and taste oxidized.
Nitro-muddling allows you to extract those flavors while disabling the PPOs.
So we're going to start by adding about 12 mint leaves to the metal shaker tin.
And with my safety goggles on I've transferred some of the liquid nitrogen
to this small thermos to make it easier to handle.
Then we're going to add a little bit of liquid nitrogen to the tin,
and carefully swirl it around.
Let it sit a few seconds until the mint gets crunchy.
If you need to add a little bit extra, do it a little bit at a time.
What you want is for the liquid nitrogen to calm down
when there's just a few millimeters left at the bottom of the tin.
Then grab a muddler and we're going to grind this mint into a frozen dust.
Keep it in the shaker tin, but for reference it should look something like this, if not even finer.
After that you'll immediately pour in 2 oz or 60 ml of your rum
to inactivate the PPOs as the mint thaws out.
You should see a final puff of nitrogen boiling off,
and it's critical that it's all gone before you proceed.
You could even take a bar spoon and stir it up to make sure.
And then as with the last Mojito
we're going to add 0.75 oz. or 22 ml of fresh lime juice.
And then 1 oz. or 30 ml of our simple syrup.
Now we've got to shake this thing with ice and as you can see here
it's kinda starting to look like a weird spinach smoothie thing,
but trust me it smells amazing.
Give that a vigorous shake for about 15 seconds
and then we're really gonna put our fine mesh strainer to work here,
because these are super fine bits of mint.
And just like last time we're gonna pour this into a Collins glass with a clear ice spear.
Right away you can see how bright and vibrant that green color is.
Again top with 1 oz. or 30 ml of soda,
don't even think about calling it a "straw",
and let's try the Nitro-muddled Mojito.
And wow. The first thing is just how bright and intense the mint flavor is. It really makes a difference.
It's pretty unbelievable actually.
So a quick recap:
We've got our traditional Mojito built in the glass,
our modern Mojito,
and our uh, post-modern Mojito?
Let's taste them side by side:
The traditional one is pretty good.
The mint is still getting a bit clogged in the straw and I can still see some sugar on the bottom,
but it is quick and easy.
The modern version is cleaner.
It's more balanced and easier to drink, definitely an improvement in my opinion.
And finally our Nitro-muddled Mojito,
which is far and away the brightest mint flavor.
It's clearly the winner in my book, but not super practical.
If you're trying to go all modernist Cuban cuisine, it'd probably go well with a sous vide ropa vieja.
Hope you guys had as much fun watching that as I did making it.
I've uploaded a bonus video to my Patreon showing the blender muddling technique.
It's about 90 percent as effective as the Nitro-muddling technique,
and much more accessible for the average person.
But in my opinion, it's not as cool, pardon the pun.
Anyway, go check it out.
Cheers!