Jun 01 2012
Non-alcoholic Fresh Strawberry Mojitos
Last weekend at my brother-in-law’s graduation party, I had several people ask me if I missed drinking alcohol. Now, I’m not a lush but I am the kinda girl who will happily drink a signature cocktail at a party, relax by the water or out on the deck with a beer, and thoroughly enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or when out with the girls. We made it though the we’re-not-telling-anyone-yet phase of early pregnancy with a little beer bottle switcheroo trickery between me and Greg but now that I have to turn down drinks at every single event we attend, I think people are starting to feel sorry for me. Or at least wonder what it’s like to abstain from all alcohol for at least a year.
Almost everything goes in the pitcher to be muddled. By someone who has the upper body strength to do it justice.
It really hasn’t been hard (I’ve got pretty good motivation, after all) but I do miss the refreshing beers and cocktails that are so prevalent at summer events. I was explaining this at the party when my mother-in-law exclaimed “Oh! I’ll make you a virgin mojito!” and she had a freshly muddled, icy mocktail in my hand in under a minute. After months of virtually nothing but ice water (and a delicious little detour of fresh lemonade) it was so lovely to have something festive, yet guilt-free, to sip.
And if you don't have a proper muddler you can always use an unopened canned good. Improvisation at it's finest.
So, come Memorial Day, I was fully prepared to continue the mocktail treat. I loaded up on local strawberries and mint, picked up a bag of fresh limes and made my own pitcher of Strawberry “Nojitos” as Greg’s cousin called the non-alcoholic version. I can’t think of anything more refreshing than ending a hot, busy day with a tall glass of tart, minty, fruity, bubbly, ice-cold deliciousness that, perhaps for once, was 100% about the flavor and feeling of the drink and not about the alcohol content. No need to think about pacing myself or alternating drinks with water–just pure enjoyment of that unique combination of flavors.
Of course, Greg is drinking for two these days so a splash of Bacardi in his glass before pouring the Strawberry Nojito turned my mocktail into his cocktail and would be easy for anyone to adapt this as a signature drink for a mixed party of drinkers and non-drinkers.
Ingredients
- 12 large limes, quartered
- 20 large mint leaves
- 7-8 medium strawberries
- 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar
- Ice
- 1 liter club soda
Instructions
Add limes, mint leaves, strawberries and sugar to a sturdy pitcher. Use a long-handled muddler, French rolling pin or wooden spoon to muddle the ingredients until mint leaves and strawberries are pulverized and limes have released all their juices.
Add ice and club soda and serve immediately.
You can do everything ahead of time except the addition of ice and soda--do this just before serving.
To make this alcoholic, add 6-8 ounces of white rum to pitcher or add rum to individual glasses before pouring.
Mmm! I would definitely have to add the rum, but these look amazing!! Very refreshing for summer!
These sound wonderful and SO refreshing! Def. going to be making this over the weekend!
[...] Lindsey of Our Share of the Harvest made non-alcoholic strawberry mojitos [...]