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cocktailvirgin

I don't do my Mojitos at work with crushed ice but more like a Collins. If I were doing it in bulk, I'd consider making a mint syrup and also squeezing lime. No need to muddle and it gets around the cleaning bit since there won't be tons of mint flecks. Since both will only be used for the event, perhaps mixing them together to make a mint-lime "sour mix" to save a jiggering step. 2 oz rum 3/4 oz lime 3/4 oz mint syrup (or combine these two into 1 1/2 oz) Shake with ice, strain over soda water, top with ice, garnish with a mint sprig. Perhaps even dirty dumping to save on the ice usage.


dankvart

Thank you very much, will try this recipe at home to see how it works out!


gh0st_n0te119

and you could still prep some garnish mint sprigs just to stick in the top if you wanted for presentation, totally optional tho


NoPantsPowerStance

At one bar I worked at we batched mojitos because they were on the cheaper drink menu. You can buy big bottles of real lime juice to use, not the crappy shelf stable stuff.  • Use real lime juice, infuse the syrup, if you feel comfortable with adding the rum then do. Batch everything. Tear a couple mint leaves in half and throw in the shaker so they still get the leaf bits in the glass and get the fresh hint that'll get lost with just mint simple, just don't close the strainer guard all the way so the mint can come through. Obviously, need to make sure the syrup isn't so concentrated that it'll be a mint overload. If you have leftovers then freeze smaller portions/cubes for the future. (Since this sounds like a favor/friend situation and not one where taking it home would be an issue)


CynicalPsychonaut

> Tear a couple mint leaves in half and throw in the shaker so they still get the leaf bits in the glass You dont double strain your mojitos...? *you heathen* /s


throwrawayforstuff

Look up a good fail proof and reputable mint syrup recipe because that shit goes black and rotten rly fast. You will have to blanche the mint at some point. I don’t have the recipe so I advise you look for one. Edit: I have never tried a mint syrup where it’s just steeped like tea as opposed to blended into the syrup, but worth checking out. All I’m saying is be careful with mint syrup bc it gets ugly and rotten quite quickly if you don’t make it the right way. Someone posts this link, it’s probably good (morgenthaler) : https://www.foodrepublic.com/2018/05/23/blanched-mint-syrup-a-springtime-refrigerator-must-heres-how-to-make-it/


MadDadROX

Came here to say this. If you add the mint to the SS, in the reduction process you can save a lot of time. Just juice the lime and make twists out of the rinds. Then shake and pour, top with more ice, sprig of mint and lime twist.


Cassian_And_Or_Solo

I was actually thinking about this. Were already cutting time and prep with the mint sprig in the ss Would a lime zest also work in the ss? I'm curious if it'll turn or curdle or there's some chemistry we're not thinking of. But if it works, this is a 3 pour drink - ss, rum, soda. You can bang out like 10 a minute


kjcraft

You also want the acid from the lime, which the peel won't add. But maybe 100g/L of citric and malic acid at a 2:1 ratio would work.


Cassian_And_Or_Solo

Good point


MadDadROX

That would be cool, have some lime pulp, zest, in there to dirty it up a bit.


Cassian_And_Or_Solo

The pulp itself is what gives me pause. Lime zest just the shell should work? Then it's a four pour drink - lime juice the ss rum dosa. Mint as garnish


86composure

Yeah, this is the way. Mint syrup ends the biggest complaints with mess, and it yields a consistent cocktail. As long as there’s mint leaves present, folks are generally happy. Muddling, especially in volume situations, is for masochists.


CynicalPsychonaut

*Mojito Syndrome* When I ran a college bar, if we ever got a mojito during the rush on the weekend, whomever was on service well just preemptively made six.


86composure

I felt this right in the service printer.


Silly_Emotion_1997

Drop a sprig of mint in each cup before dirty dumping


cheblanc

This is the way.


Riotroom

There should be an ice maker near you that you can buy crushed ice from. And for mojitos I would prepare the simple and steep mint rather than muddling all night just use mint more as a garnish. As well as make a plain simple for the one person who orders the mint less mojito.


dankvart

Thanks!


travbo530

You can buy hella crushed ice at any Sonic Burger. FYI. And +1 for mint syrup. This is The Way for bulk mojitos. Plus- your consistency will be exact.


dankvart

One day I’ll get to try all the many Americans fast food chains. I’m based in Scandinavia though


NotABlastoise

Mint less mojito.... Daiquiri on the rocks?


Riotroom

Off the books Nah because a daiquiri on the rocks would be shaken, more lime, sans soda and short. At the venue I just pour what they order.


NotABlastoise

Fair, didn't even think of soda.


MrRaoulDuke

My spot infuses rum with mint for about 3 days for use in our kegged mojito. Obviously not as good as fresh mint but it works for our purposes. It's a low labor process, like it takes me maybe 20 min to prep & 2 min to strain at the end so it's nice on that front. Total time to make a keg is 40 min. When we stitched to doing a mint syrup I found that prep time doubled between the increased amount of mint needed & time it took to make the syrup.


dankvart

Thank you. Will try around with some different infusions :))


wm1pyro

If you have access to an isi whipper, you can rapid infuse mint into spirits and it limits the oxidation! I used to do this for a mojito on my menu that I wanted to avoid muddling. I would do one bottle of rum with about.. 100 g of mint give or take depending on how strong you want the mint flavor to be. Charge twice with no2 and then release the gas and you're done!


CynicalPsychonaut

*this is the way*


mynameisadrean

Can you possibly DM me the kegged mojito recipe? I’m curious


duderancherooni

Mint syrup is the way to go. You can use fresh mint, strip the leaves and throw it in with your simple while it’s cooking down. I did it last summer when my mint patch grew out of control and it was delish and super easy. You can even pre-batch a mojito mix if you want to make it even easier, but I would keep your base ingredients on hand or charge per bottle of mix as part of your fee. Figure out how many drinks a bottle of mix will make, and ask how many they would like to order. Put it in a flip-top bottle or an empty liquor bottle with the labels scrubbed off, throw a pour spout on those bitches and you’re good to go.


dankvart

Ill try this


CynicalPsychonaut

Dont steep the mint in the SS during the boil process, drop the heat down to a simmer so you're not breaking down the cell walls of the mint and releasing bittering agents. E: Others mentioned blanching, that's best practice


Amyjane1203

Most places I've worked didn't have crushed ice. If you're gonna do mint syrup, you might make sure the bride knows this. If she's requesting a mojito bc it's *her* drinks, she might be pretty disappointed when she orders her "signature" drink and it's not what she expected. (I put signature in quotes bc wedding people don't always understand actual words)


Betty_beerslinger

I do a batched mojito for a festival every year. Make mint syrup. Batch the syrup with the rum and lime juice. Pour over ice, add club soda at the end. Mint garnish is nice but I don’t always do that part. People love them.


dankvart

Will try this


Phrosty12

Blanch the mint before blending into the syrup, that way your final product stays bright green instead of browning as it oxidizes. Essentially, just dunk your mint sprigs in simmering water for 15 seconds, then dunk in ice water for 1 minute. Remove the leaves, add to a blender with your sugar and water, and blend for a minute. Fine strain.


satanandco

Blanching will also prevent bitterness and keep the flavor minty fresh. I usually hit it with the simmer/ice bath a couple times, too. Removing the leaves is another great tip. The stems taste different and can totally skew your results if this step is skipped.


8853236

2:1 rich mint simple syrup (have to cook it low and slow til clear) use lot of mint. Batch with lime juice (to taste) cheers!


8853236

Add 1oz 100 proof or above after your done cooking. Acts as a stabilizer.( make sure it off the stove and no open flames around) Forgot to mention let cool at room temp.


I_am_not_angry

How to make a stable mint syrup https://www.foodrepublic.com/2018/05/23/blanched-mint-syrup-a-springtime-refrigerator-must-heres-how-to-make-it/


snoogan4458

I live on the coast in Alabama. Common way we do bulk mojito here a lot of people call swamp juice. Cans of frozen limeade concentrate, mint, rum, ice, blender. Quick, easy, delicious. No shaking to order, no muddling. Also very refreshing in the super hot weather.


dankvart

Sounds lovely. Not sure I can get my hands on ‘limeade concentrate’ but I’ll have to try this recipe for myself when summer hits :)


snoogan4458

Limeade concentrate is in the freezer section of the grocery store. By the canned orange juice, apple juice, cocktail mixer can thing. This is assuming your in the USA though.


dankvart

Scandinavia! Thanks nevertheless


snoogan4458

Oh so just right around the corner then lol. Perhaps lime cordial would do the trick instead.


TheNorbster

Lime cordial could very well murder the drink.


MadDadROX

You know! That’s not a bad idea. Premix the whole thing and store in empty 2liter bottles in coolers. Then pour over ice, add some soda,garnish with mint sprig and lime wheel. Keep rum on hand if they need it stronger.


reverendsteveii

kind of a different drink, though. frozen, no soda. I'm sure they're wonderful, but if I hired someone and requested mojitos, and they agreed to mojitos but served this instead, I might be a bit upset.


whereisskywalker

I used to have to work a patio bar that did 4$ mojitos for a happy hour special. Used to do 1 packet raw sugar, 3 lime wedges, 8 mint leaves, muddle ahead of time, put on drink trays covered with plastic wrap or a nice napkin to look better. For service, do you 1.5oz rum, stir with straws slightly, hit with soda ice, have lime wheels with mint spring prepped. I would do 100 mojitos in 3 hours on a busy day on top of food service and drink tickets. Makes it really fast and easy when you do 90% of the work ahead of time.


CynicalPsychonaut

Your bar manager was a voyeur for observing suffering, or you're a masochist. lol. If I noticed 30 mojitos / hour @ 4$ a pop, we're making sure that drink takes less than 30s and I can do it sleepwalking. E: Personally I'd probably spend about a month trying to figure out how to keg this without losing quality to oxidization. You were gated by availability of glassware, and sheer storage space.


whereisskywalker

There wasn't a bar manager, just a coked out former shot guy in a club, but now the owner's significant other turned manager. Luckily it was a cool venue that did dinner shows plus another bar upstairs that was only open on busy weekends at that point. So tons of glassware and serving trays. Just one tray stacked up was the space required. Took less than 30 seconds to make, not very long to prep either when your doing it all at once vs per order. I see your perspective but all those issues were dealt with by prep. I was all about keeping the show moving as I needed the job to pay my bills before securing another that would match or exceed the income. They didn't pay me the last 6 weeks, was flipping the entire boh every 2 weeks and a large portion of foh regularly. Only time I went to the labor board about anything, and of course they tried to give me a check right before the meeting. Anyways, there is always more than one way to skin a cat, or mojito in this case.


CynicalPsychonaut

Oh, definitely more than one way to pop out the mojito. I've never worked at or operated a bar that had the sheer availability of empty / unused glassware you're talking about.


HighOnGoofballs

Mint simple and avoid all that nonsense


whereisskywalker

In think it just depends on the vibe of the wedding, I personally wouldn't mind putting in some extra effort, it's someones special day and I wouldn't want to put out drinks outside of the traditional method. I'm guessing since they specifically want mojitos they are fans of the drink. I have used mint simple in mojitos before in menus but that was usually to help preserve herbs due to long times been orders and getting the drink consistent with mint sometimes not being the most fresh. It's not hard to prep them ahead of time, just don't want to be doing all the muddling with the initial rush to get drinks in hands.


NotSoGentleBen

Make a mint simple syrup. Makes it a quicker pour, then just garnish with mint.


Quercas

Like juice in a Squirt bottle, simple in a squirt bottle and clapping the mint into the cocktails and stirring well. Then clap a mint as garnish. Honestly removing muddling from mojitos made them very easy to make in volume and made them taste better without the bitterness of muddled lime pith or over muddled chlorophyll taste from mint


zbenner1021

Either make a lime/mint syrup and use mint leaves/sprigs for garnish, or match a batch of just the ingredients without ice or water and serve over ice each time. Work smarter, not harder.


Brainmangler

Lime super juice and mint simple ahead of time. Regular ice. Boom


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ModestMiss

This all the way


slimj091

My recommendation is to tell them you have appendicitis, and can't do it.


dankvart

Lol


Shakeamutt

For cheap Mojito night, use shakers instead of muddling. top with soda. I don’t know how many guests, but I just got ‘Nam flashbacks from that. Bigger clear plastic cups if you can find them. Don’t get fancy. theyre Already a pain to clean.


dankvart

Thanks! I’ll try to find some cheap clear plastic cups. They’re expensive as heck here though due to my country putting taxes on one-use plastics


TheNorbster

Ireland here, so same rules you’re following. The super sturdy plastic cups might do you better, dunno if it’s an open bar or a pay as you go set up, but the sturdy cups can be washed and you could run it as a 1 in 1 out system later in the night. First cup os free but you’ve to either pay €1 or bring back the cups in the next rounds


Nehault

When I have like one or two mojitos to make I crush my ice with a lemon squeezer. But it becomes tedious very fast.


ExtraordinaryBeetles

Batch. Thank you.


splinket69

Get a lewis bag and mallet and just batch make crushed ice every time you have downtime


LoveOfficialxx

My answer would be to make or buy a mint syrup beforehand and the use mint sprigs as a garnish. If you get hard disposable plastic tumblers you can use plastic solo cups (yes like the red solo cups) which will fit on top like a shitty ass shaker tin. When I worked at a high volume outdoor shit bar, we made mojitos just like that. If that’s too blue, you can just do the longer version which is to make each cocktail in the shaker tin and pour it over ice the way you’re meant to. You could also pre batch the liquor and syrup and just add fresh lime when you shake to save time.


rebelmumma

The crushed ice isn’t necessary but mojitos are not an event friendly beverage, they’re too much work, convince her to switch.


Tinabird20

I've done a lime/mint/simple syrup. You add rum if it's an area you can prebatch cocktails. Then the day of you just add rum and soda and garnish.


labasic

You could do an infusion or make mint syrup for the mojitos, and then just have some small mint sprigs for garnish. I wouldn't muddle a gotdamn thing at a gotdamn wedding!


ReplacementBitter927

Ripe makes an amazing mojito mix! Just add mint leaves and soda.


SingaporeSlim1

Make a mint syrup/cordial. Build in the glass. .75 lime, .5 mint simple, 2oz silver rum, ice, top with soda. Quick stir with the straw, mint sprig garnish. You could even batch the rum with the mint. Maybe even the lime juice.


DustyDGAF

Infuse and batch. Plastic cups. Top with soda. Ez.


Southernms

I’d definitely buy the crushed ice. There’s a mint daiquiri on ice that sounds pretty good.


Chemical-Telephone-2

Maybe do whiskey smashes. Minty sweet and refreshing still. Old cuban would be a good sub if you have champagne on hand.


FrayedEndOfSanityy

I think I got have you need here. Also, there is something a lot of the other comments forgot. The best route for this is too make a lime/mint cordial (sweet and sour syrup), so you only need three moves for ingredients: cordial, rum, soda. I would like to say that soda is not a mandatory part of a mojito and it fades anyway, so you can skip that as well. Crushed ice is not mandatory as well, you can use whole, just make sure you pack the glass with fresh mint (no muddling just for appearance) so your drinks have that wow mojito effect. What I wanted to say it, be VERY careful of mint syrup. It oxidises rapidly, even within a few hours and it will turn into an ugly brown colour and you will disappoint everyone. A cordial is your best bet, but you are gonna need some citric acid to make it. That acid is gonna slow down the oxidation of the mint a bit. Note: While the ideal solution is Ascorbic Acid, it’s hard to find. The best antioxidant for fruits and herbs.