Gin Mojito (with Mint)

Refreshing gin mojito with mint and cucumber slices, a delicious twist on a classic mojito, perfect for warm spring and summer evenings.

A super simple and tasty gin mojito cocktail, perfect for the upcoming Mother’s Day or for any summer evening spent outside. And if you are into gin, why not try the Elderflower Gin or the Rhubarb and Ginger Gin this spring, the elderflower and rhubarb season is just around the corner. Or thy the Gooseberry Gin in summer.

Over the years, I managed to plant three different mint bushes in the garden. So, I have loads of it all spring and summer long.

I do make a stunning mint pesto and I dry a lot of the herbs, but still, I have enough to make like a million of these gin and mint cocktails. Or regular mojitos with rum, which my husband prefers. I like the gin version much better, rum was never “my thing”.

A classic Cuban mojito is made with white rum, mint, limes, club soda, sugar, and ice. A gin mojito, also known as a London mojito, is made with gin instead of rum. I add the cucumbers because I absolutely love them in gin.

What do you need?

Gin:

• Over time, I’ve used different brands of gin for making this cocktail, from mid-ranged priced ones to pricier ones. Beefeater London Dry Gin or Bombay Sapphire are both good choices.
• This time I had a German gin, which we bought at the farmer’s market, so don’t go looking for it unless you live in our region…

Fresh mint:

• Most of it muddled in the glass, plus a few leaves for the garnish.

Limes:

• Always use freshly squeezed lime juice for making cocktails, the bottled juice is not an option in this case.
• Use unwaxed and preferably organic limes, you will muddle them in the glass as well and you don’t want the wax and other weird stuff in your drink. In Germany, you will often be able to read on the bags of limes and lemons if the peel is suitable for consumption, many times it’s not, so you must pay attention when you buy them.
• If you cannot get hold of unwaxed limes, juice them and use only the juice. However, bruising the peel in the glass adds a delightful slightly bitter note to the drink, I would not want to miss that.

Club soda:

• Which is carbonated water infused with added minerals. As opposed to sparkling water which is naturally carbonated. Otherwise, they are pretty much the same, I don't think I could ever tell the difference...
• I almost always use sparkling water for making cocktails as club soda is not something I can easily buy around here.
• Seltzer can be used as well.

Cucumber slices:

• Optional but I’ve never made this gin mojito without them…

Sugar:

• Fine cane sugar. I used about 2 teaspoons per glass, but you can adjust that to your taste. You can add more or leave the sugar out completely. However, at least a little bit is nice.
• You can use other sweeteners instead if you wish.

Crushed ice

How to make a mojito with gin?

• Wash and dry the lime thoroughly. Halve it and slice the halves. Place half of them in a glass.
• Add sugar and 6-8 mint leaves, depending on their size.
• Muddle to release some of the lime juice and the mint flavors. You can use a professional muddle if you have one. Or a shaker. I don’t have any of them, so I use a small wooden rolling pin. It works very well.
• Don’t crush the mint too much, just bruise it to help it release its oils.

• Add gin and some ice.
• Thinly slice the cucumber and place 3-4 slices into each glass.
• Add the remaining lime slices as well.
• Fill with club soda or sparkling water.
• Adjust the taste. You can add more sugar, lime juice, or alcohol.
• Decorate with more mint.

Tips to make in a pitcher

• Scale the recipe as required.
• Make sure you can estimate how many servings will fit inside. My pitcher holds about 8 servings.
• Use a larger rolling pin to muddle the lime leaves and lime slices.
• Use a long wooden spoon to stir the ingredients.
• Adjust the amount of ice to ensure that everything else fits in the pitcher.
• You can use slightly fewer cucumber slices for such a large quantity. Again, adjust depending on the size of the pitcher.
• Only add ice and decoration mint leaves before serving.

How to serve?

• Serve the gin and mint cocktails immediately before the ice melts too much.
• You can make the mixture in advance but only add the ice and the decoration mint at the last moment.

More drinks:

• Thermomix Baileys
• Boozy Butterbeer Recipe (Harry Potter-inspired)
• Creme de Cassis Recipe
• Baileys Hot Chocolate
• Honey Liqueur (with Brandy)