In print by 1917; origin disputed.
| 2 oz · 60 ml | GIN | 40 % |
| ¾ oz · 22 ml | LIME JUICE | |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | SIMPLE SYRUP | |
| 8 leaves | MINT |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 3.25 oz mixed with ice, 0.8 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Shaken: +20 % of the pre-batch, +0.65 oz of water |
| Served | 3.25 + 0.65 = 3.9 oz in the glass |
| Strength | 0.8 ÷ 3.9 = 20.5 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.8 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 19 g · about 131 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM GIN
The pine note in juniper berries, and the reason gin tastes like a forest. Co-distilled with the spirit during production. Found in actual pine trees, rosemary, basil, and a good London Dry. The "Christmas tree" smell of gin and the smell of a forest floor share a single molecule.
ALSO IN Negroni · Martini · Gimlet · Gin & Tonic · Aviation · Corpse Reviver #2 · French 75 · Bramble
FROM MINT · the cooling sensation
A cyclic alcohol that hijacks TRPM8, the same cold-sensing receptor that fires when the skin actually hits a cool surface. The "cooling" sensation is neurological, not thermal; the drink isn't cold, the nerves just think it is. Peppermint carries the most; a mojito gets a fraction of the real thing from muddled mint leaves. Same chemistry powers menthol cigarettes, cough drops, and the post-shave aftershock of anything labeled "icy."
ALSO IN Mojito · Mint Julep · Stinger · Grasshopper · Old Cuban · Whiskey Smash · Cynar Julep · Eastside
FROM LIME · the lemon aroma
Lemon's defining note: technically a mix of two geometric isomers (geranial and neral) that read as the same aroma to the nose. Lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon verbena, and Indian chai all carry it. In cocktails it's what a lemon twist contributes that lemon juice can't: the volatile expressed from the oil glands, not the acid from the pulp.
ALSO IN Margarita · Mojito · Daiquiri · Whiskey Sour · Gimlet · Moscow Mule · Paper Plane · Aviation
Gin, lime, sugar and mint. It is the Mojito's gin cousin: alpha-pinene from juniper, carvone from mint and citral from lime, with no soda and no rum. It was in print before Prohibition and a speakeasy standard during it.
Origin disputed among Long Island's South Side Sportsmen's Club, New York's 21 Club and Chicago's South Side. A South Side Fizz was in print by 1917 (Hugo Ensslin); the 21 Club, a speakeasy, later served it to wealthy patrons. Chicago lore connects the drink to Al Capone's Southside gang; the story goes that the gin was so harsh in 1920s Chicago that the mint-and-lime was necessary to make it drinkable. The 21 Club version is more elegant; the Chicago version more straightforward.
