A Basic Mojito Recipe, Plus A Little Story

About a month ago, I noticed a dark discoloration on the fingers of my right hand. I did what most people would do these days, and Googled it. Everything I found online seemed to pertain to losing pigmentation and that wasn’t my case. So I went to the dermatologist. Do you know what the first thing she asked me was? “Do you cook with lemons or limes a lot?” I said “….ummm I make a lot of mojitos?” She said, “Do you make mojitos and then go sit outside in the sun?” This is like, every weekend for me, so I said yes.

Apparently, the combination of dried citrus juice with sun exposure can cause dark skin discoloration. I mean, seriously? My obsession with mojitos is so intense that it is discoloring my skin?? (Do I have a problem? Do I need to go to mojitos anonymous?) At first I didn’t believe it, but that would surely explain why the discoloration is only happening on my right hand.

Determined to never give up my dear mojitos, I got myself a handy dandy lemon squeezer thingy (do these have a name?), and now pair that with rubber gloves (that J insists I wear when cooking anyways since my skin is so sensitive). While the discoloration has faded, my love for mojitos has not. So I wanted to share my go-to, basic mojito recipe with you guys. The ingredients are estimates, as I always just throw it in without measuring. Here’s what I do:

Put the juice of one lime in a martini shaker. Add about 2 tsp of simple syrup (I like mine more tart than sweet so if you prefer sweet add more simply syrup!). Add mint leaves and muddle. (I use a lot, probably 10. I like mint.) Then add rum to the martini shaker. I like Bacardi. I like a lot of Bacardi. Add as much as you want. Then add a bunch of ice and shake it in the martini shaker so it gets nice and cool. (This is probably not necessary, as you can just pour the mixture over ice but I like feeling fancy.) Pour the entire mixture into a glass and top it with club soda. I like to add extra mint leaves because I tend to nibble on them as I drink. Did I mention I love mint? And mojitos?

Now please excuse me while I go sit outside in the sun, drink my mojito (and write this blog post).