Take any cocktail and spice it up. A pinch of Ceylon cinnamon into a whiskey coke; a couple of bruised kaffir lime leaves into a gin & tonic; a few drops of ginger extract into a tequila.
Or a Lemongrass Mojito - essential oils for an essential cocktail on a hot afternoon in the spring.
Peel off the dry outer layers of the lemongrass stalk, and slice the grassy top to shorten the herb into the length of a cocktail stirring stick. Then on a cutting board, bruise the bulbous end of the lemongrass with the back of a knife. Place the stalk into a shot glass and fill it with rum. Allow it to sit for an hour in the kitchen, or if you’re having friends over that night, place one at each spot around the table. The rum will slowly extract the essential oils – the essential flavors – of the lemongrass.
Prepare a normal mojito – sugar, mint leaves, and limes on the bottom of a glass, and pound them with the handle of a wooden spoon or a muddler. Pour the lemongrass rum extract into the glass, and use the stalk to stir and loosen the mint leaves. Then fill halfway with ice cubes or crushed ice, and top it off with soda water for a lemony-lime mojito.
If you’re having friends over for dinner – who have been staring curiously at the lemongrass stalks in the shot glasses – serve them each a glass with all the mojito steps done, but the rum and soda water. Then have them pour in the rum as you walk around topping each glass with soda water. Ask everyone to mix their drinks with the lemongrass stalks, and a cheers to an early summer!
Lemongrass Mojito mixed with a splash of homemade ginger syrup
Lemongrass Mojito by Season with Spice
Makes 2 cocktails
Ingredients:
2 stalks of lemongrass
2 shots of rum
A handful of mint leaves
2 tbsp of Coconut Palm Sugar (or raw sugar)
1 small lime
Ice cubes or crushed ice
1 can of soda water
Process:
1. Remove the outer layers of the lemongrass and snip the top off to shorten into a stirring stick. With the back of a knife, bruise the bulbous end of the stalk to release the lemongrass oils. Fill two shot glasses with rum and add in the lemongrass stalks. Let sit for one hour.
2. Add 1 tbsp of sugar, 1/2 a small lime, and a bunch of mint leaves to the bottom of each serving glass. With the back of a wooden spoon, pound the ingredients together to release the essential oils from the mint leaves and the rind of the lime. Pour In the rum and mix with the lemongrass stalk.
3. Fill glass halfway with ice and top off with soda water.
Notes:
- Make a spicy Ginger Ale Mojito by adding in homemade ginger syrup. Or to keep it simple, just substitute ginger ale or ginger beer for the soda water.
- For the ultimate breath freshening drink in the morning, substitute hot water for the rum, and cut down on the sugar. Along with freshening your breath, this drink will keep you healthy as it is high in Vitamin C, and packed full of nutrients and essential oils from the three spices - lime rind, mint leaves, and lemongrass.
Makes 2 cocktails
Ingredients:
2 stalks of lemongrass
2 shots of rum
A handful of mint leaves
2 tbsp of Coconut Palm Sugar (or raw sugar)
1 small lime
Ice cubes or crushed ice
1 can of soda water
Process:
1. Remove the outer layers of the lemongrass and snip the top off to shorten into a stirring stick. With the back of a knife, bruise the bulbous end of the stalk to release the lemongrass oils. Fill two shot glasses with rum and add in the lemongrass stalks. Let sit for one hour.
2. Add 1 tbsp of sugar, 1/2 a small lime, and a bunch of mint leaves to the bottom of each serving glass. With the back of a wooden spoon, pound the ingredients together to release the essential oils from the mint leaves and the rind of the lime. Pour In the rum and mix with the lemongrass stalk.
3. Fill glass halfway with ice and top off with soda water.
Notes:
- Make a spicy Ginger Ale Mojito by adding in homemade ginger syrup. Or to keep it simple, just substitute ginger ale or ginger beer for the soda water.
- For the ultimate breath freshening drink in the morning, substitute hot water for the rum, and cut down on the sugar. Along with freshening your breath, this drink will keep you healthy as it is high in Vitamin C, and packed full of nutrients and essential oils from the three spices - lime rind, mint leaves, and lemongrass.
