Originating from Havana, Cuba, the mojito is a classic quencher that has been pleasing palettes for hundreds of years. Recently, it’s seen a resurgence in popularity as drinkers continue to search for that perfect balance of summer simplicity and sophistication with various riffs off the traditional recipe. Enter the strawberry mojito.

Strawberry mojitos epitomize the classic cocktail with a heady punch of summer strawberry flavor. Bonus? It’s deliciously simple to make. 

Strawberry Mojito Recipe

The mojito. The strawberry. Two icons of summer—as one. If you’re already salivating at the thought of all that minty fruity deliciousness, we won’t keep you waiting. Here’s everything you need to make our go-to strawberry mojito recipe. 

Equipment

As you begin your cocktail concoctions, we’ll need to make sure we have some basic bar equipment for making our strawberry mojitos. 

Cocktail shaker – You’ll find a range of shakers in stores or online, though the most common household shaker to consider using is the cobbler shaker. This shaker is conveniently fitted with an ice strainer and a cap for keeping everything inside. 

Measuring tool – Typically, the bar tool for measuring liquids is known as a jigger. Double-sided, there is a one-ounce and a two-ounce measurement. Some jiggers have additional fill lines etched inside them, so you can see when you’re at three-quarters or one-half an ounce, thus allowing you to fine-tune. 

Muddler – We’re going to need to muddle the strawberries and mint for this mojito recipe. You can pick up a household muddler at the store or order one online. If you don’t have one, don't worry. You can improvise with a wooden spoon or a small rolling pin. For the mint, it’s possible to muddle the oils by hand. 

Ingredients for a Strawberry Mojito

When it comes to cocktails that use fruit and herbs, the fresher the better. Here’s a basic rundown of what ingredients to gather before getting started:

• 2 oz white rum 
• 1/2  oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
•  4-5 strawberries, rinsed and de-stemmed
• Two dashes vanilla extract
• 3 to 5 mint leaves
• Splash of soda 

Instructions

Now that you’ve picked up your rum and the freshest mint and strawberries you can find, let’s get started:

1. Drop at least four strawberries into the cocktail shaker. Muddle them into a pulp with your muddler or spoon. Don’t worry about the chunkiness—a lot of that will get strained by your cocktail shaker. 
   
   
2. Add at least three fresh mint leaves to the shaker. Using the muddler, press the leaves gently into the fresh strawberry or frozen strawberry pulp until you are able to smell the mint clearly. The point is to release the essential oils and fragrance of the mint,not to shred or rip it up.
   
   
3. With a jigger, measure and pour the rum, lime juice, and simple syrup into your cocktail shaker. Add two dashes of vanilla extract. Remember to hold off on the soda water until later in the process to avoid a shaken-soda can effect later on. 
   
   Note: You can continue to muddle as you add ingredients to make the mixture less chunky.
   
   
4. Add ice, seal the shaker, and shake hard for 5-10 seconds, making sure to keep the shaker from popping open. 
   
   
5. Strain the mixture into a Collins glass of (preferably pebble or crushed) ice.  
   
   
6. Top it off with a splash of soda.
   
   
7. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig and/or a single strawberry.

When You Want To Serve a Crowd: Strawberry Mojito Pitcher Recipe 

Serving a group of four? Try making this single-serve recipe into a strawberry mojito pitcher recipe with the following specs:

• 8 oz (1 cup) white rum 
• 2 oz (1/4 cup) lime juice
• 2 oz (1/4 cup) simple syrup
• Roughly 16 strawberries (or 1 cup strawberry puree if your muddling hand is a bit tired)
• 6 dashes vanilla
• At least 12 mint leaves
• 6 oz (3/4 cup) club soda 

Just follow the instructions above, but at a larger scale. Don’t forget to garnish each glass!

How to Make a Classic Mojito

With or without strawberries, the classic mojito makes for a delicious summer drink. Besides, you can’t always have strawberries on hand. If you want to keep things simple while still enjoying the unbeatable flavor combo of rum, mint, and citrus, follow this classic mojito recipe. (Again, feel free to play with the proportions to get it just the way you like it.) 

Ingredients

As you’ll see, the ingredients don’t change all that much from our go-to strawberry mojito to the classic mojito. The list just gets a little shorter, meaning it’ll be that much easier to make a second round.

• 2 oz white rum 
• 3/4  oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup or 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
• 3 to 5 fresh mint leaves
• Splash of soda 

Instructions

While a lot of times, you’ll want to shake cocktails that have juice or syrup in them, the mojito is traditionally built right in the glass, like so: 

1. In a Collins glass, add simple syrup. There is some disagreement on how to implement sugar in the classic mojito. While simple syrup is a fine choice, some prefer to use undissolved, granulated sugar. Try both and see which you prefer.
   
   
2. Gently muddle three or so mint leaves into your simple syrup until you can clearly smell the mint oils.
   
   
3. Add your rum and lime juice. 
   
   
4. Fill the glass with crushed ice and stir. 
   
   
5. Garnish with mint.

2 Essential Skills for Making Amazing Mojitos

The mojito is a wonderfully versatile drink, forgiving of many tweaks and mishaps. But no matter what mojito you’re making, there are two skills to master to ensure you’re making the most out of this quintessential summer drink.

#1 Know Your Rums

Rum is a wildly versatile alcohol. Different varieties can impart and enhance different flavors. Knowing a little bit about each type of rum will help you play around with different mojito recipes. 

Here is a primer on what kinds of rums (or rhums) are available to you when making your strawberry mojito cocktail recipe:

• White rum – The traditional rum of choice for a mojito is white rum. Light and slightly sweet, this style of rum generously shares the stage with the other ingredients. Other names it goes by are light rum and silver rum.
  
  
• Gold rum – Gold rum is rum that has been aged in barrels to add depth, complexity, and body. It’s a bit richer than white rum and so will be more identifiable in a cocktail. Try this rum with complementary ingredients like pineapple soda, lemon juice, muddled mangos, or even pomegranate syrup. 
  
  
• Dark rum – Aged the longest, dark or black rum is the rich base spirit often used in the classic cocktail, the Dark & Stormy. Dark rum gets its depth of color from the oak casks being charred. You’ll want to contrast this rich, velvety rum with brighter flavors like lime juice, ginger, or even yuzu. 
  
  
• Spiced rum – Spiced rum is typically aged as long as dark rum but gets some of its color and flavor profile from added spices. Combine ingredients like grilled peaches or pineapples, maple syrup, or apple cider for an out-of-this-world mojito remix.  

• Rhum agricole – While white rum provides a light, slightly sweet profiel, rhum agricole is grassier, funkier, and more vegetal. Of course, as with any category of rum, rhum agricole has a wide range of flavor profiles and possibilities. Lean into the herbaceous flavors of this rum with jalapenos, lemongrass, or tonic water. 

If you’re not sure what rum to go with, we recommend a white (light or silver) rum for your mojito recipe. 

While all rums are more than welcome, we find that the lighter, slightly sweet profile of the white rum supports the ensemble of flavors rather than competing with them. Having said that, don’t be shy. It’s always a good idea to experiment with r(h)um.

#2 Make Your Own Simple Syrup

True to its name, simple syrup is not at all complicated to make. You just need sugar and water, and preferably a way to heat the two together. 

Things get a touch more complicated when we talk about the specs of our syrup. There are, for instance, typically two ratios that are considered when making a batch of simple syrup:

• 1:1 – 1 unit of sugar to 1 unit of water
• 2:1 – 2 units of sugar to 1 unit of water

Choosing a Sugar

What kind of sugar you choose to use in your simple syrup may vary depending on what you are trying to mix it with. In most cases, typical, granulate(or white, household sugar) will do the trick. If, however, you want a slightly darker or richer syrup, then you might use (light or dark) brown sugar, or raw sugar (also known as turbinado or, more popularly by the brand name, Sugar in the Raw). 

Note: Powdered sugar should never be used when making a simple syrup. 

Making Simple Syrup

Now for another simple part: the actual recipe. All you need is a small cooking pot, a flame, sugar, and water:

1. Add your desired amount of sugar into a dry saucepan. 
2. Add water according to the desired richness of your syrup.
3. Turn the stove on low. 
4. Continuing with low heat, stir slowly until all the sugar has dissolved.
5. Wait for the syrup to cool. Bottle it. 

Note: While turning the heat all the way up may make the dissolving process slightly faster, if the water boils for too long, you’ll lose the liquid as it turns to steam. This will throw off the sugar-to-water ratio.

Leave the Mixing to DRNXMYTH

As much fun as it is to make a fresh strawberry mojito, you don’t always have the time, patience, or kitchen space. Thankfully, that’s no reason to miss out on this delicious summertime quaffer.

Try out our premade mojito, a delicious handcrafted cocktail made with fresh, premium ingredients. Our strawberries are cold-pressed and never pasteurized. Let us bring the flavor and fun of summer to your door—check out our whole portfolio of drinks today!

Sources: 

1. Difford’s Guide. Mojito Cocktail History. https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/429/cocktails/mojito-cocktail-history
2. Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Simple Syrup. https://jeffreymorgenthaler.com/simple-syrup/