Cotton Candy Mojito

It's really a grape Mojito but you wouldn't try it if I named it that

It's been a lot of gin cocktails lately, and since it's summer, I wanted to dive into rum, and who doesn't love a good Mojito? What makes a good Mojito? Like most classics, a Mojito only involves a few ingredients: rum, mint, lime and sugar with a splash of soda water on top. Obviously fresh lime and mint are key, but so is actual cane sugar muddled in the shaker rather than just simple syrup. Why? Well, if you simply add sugar already dissolved it just mixes in and sits on top, not integrated the same way. It's the same logic behind shaking cocktails with citrus or other juice. The ingredients blend and integrate with each other differently - it's almost like emulsification. It creates one fully combined flavor. Maybe that's not totally true, but you can definitely taste the difference.

In the case of the Mojito, there are several approaches, but the best ones involve muddling in stages in the shaker tin, but you can also do it directly in the glass, although you won't get that integration that I just mentioned. The hardest part is not over-muddling and getting proportions correct. A lot of this also depends on the lime itself. Not all limes are created equally. Same with mint. A good lime will be smoother, squishier, smaller and have a thinner skin that the hard bumpy ones. In my experience, you will see lots of different types of limes mixed together in most grocery stores, so selection is something you really have to think about. You get better at it after you have some duds. Also freshness. The older they are, the more sour and acidic they become. I have no science to back this up, this has just been my experience.

The mint is also important. There are many many varieties and I honestly don't know most of the differences except that the stuff I have in my yard that grows wild is probably "chocalate mint" which has red stems and roots (seen in the left glass in the photo above). It tends to be more subtle, with fewer essential oils, which means you need to use more of it, but it can also be too grassy if you muddle it to hard. Again, I have no proof of this, just experience. The other common one which you can get in most grocery stores is more like "spearmint", so named because it resembles a spearhead (seen in the right glass in the photo above). The leaves are more serrated, pointy but also textured and bumpy. It has a more "minty" profile and is better to use. I have planted some in my garden and it's a perennial so it comes back every year and it also spreads so if you're careful you'll never run out. The third type that I am familiar with is the kind that is available in Puerto Rico (and probably other places) and the leaves are similar to spearmint but are much larger and more pungent and flavorful. Obviously that's the kind you want, especially since the Mojito's origin is in nearby Cuba.

Enough about the original, let's get into my variation. This came about from two ideas. One, I had some delicious Cotton Candy grapes and there aren't very many cocktails that use fresh grapes. Two, I love Mojitos. Obvious. If you don't know what a cotton candy grape tastes like, buy some and eat them and you'll get where the name comes from. But where does it come from? A geneticist from California created it through standard cross-pollination methods in test tubes. No, it's not what you would call a GMO and it's not a Frankengrape. These methods have been used for hundreds of years in one form or another. How do you think certain vineyards have their own "special grapes"? Sure, there are hundreds of other factors, but in the end it's all about creating a particular flavor and profile over many generations of grape to get a desired result. The Cotton Candy grapes would probably make a terrible wine, but they are delicious to eat and in this cocktail. Do yourself a favor and get some and make this! Also try my version of a watermelon Mojito.

Cotton Candy Mojito

• 1 ½ oz light rum

• ¾ oz lime juice (half a lime cut into quarters and muddled)

• ¼ oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur

• 1-2 teaspoons cane sugar

• 6 Cotton Candy grapes

• 5-10 leaves mint plus one sprig as garnish

Aggressively muddle grapes with sugar in shaker tin until sugar is mostly dissolved. Add in half a lime (quartered) and muddle enough to get juice without grinding it too much. You want to release some of the citrus oils but not the bitterness from the pith. This takes practice. Now taste it and add more sugar or lime to get a good balance. Next, add mint and very gently muddle against the side of the shaker. You may also want to do the same in the dry glass. You can't really have too much mint, but you CAN muddle it to much so be gentle. Now add rum, Luxardo and ice (crushed ice if you prefer. Shake a bit but not crazy long, then pour unstrained into glass (otherwise known as a "dirty dump", a favorite term for my friend Eric). Top with seltzer or club soda, add more ice if you wish, garnish with the mint sprig but slap it between your hands first to release even more mint flavor. Enjoy!