A backyard bartender. It’s what everyone needs this time of year. Luckily, we found ours in Houston, Texas. Our new drinking pal, Nancy, writes about creative boozings on her blog, The Backyard Bartender. We were big fans of the Smo-jito recipe she posted in March and asked if she’d be so kind to guest post on DIA. She said yes and brought along the Maple Strawberry Rhubarb Mojito:


Those of you up North may have to wait a little bit longer, but here in Texas strawberry season is in full swing. Which is perfect, because I’m all about using local ingredients, and I’d been wanting to make a strawberry rhubarb mojito ever since I spotted this rhubarb soda at the grocery store. And since I kept reading about cocktails with maple syrup, I couldn’t help but wonder – what would happen if I got some of that up in the mix? I am not quite a culinary genius, but I do have the internet, so I did a little research. Mint and maple syrup? Check. Rhubarb and maple? Also check. Maple and strawberries? Yup. Mix them all together and you have:

 


The Maple Strawberry Rhubarb Mojito
8 mint leaves
3 strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
.5 oz maple syrup (preferrably grade B)
1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 oz light rum
crushed ice
DRY rhubarb soda


Add the maple syrup and the mint leaves to the bottom of a mixing glass and muddle. Add the strawberries and muddle again, until the strawberries have formed a nice pulp. Add the lemon juice and rum and fill the glass with ice. Shake and strain into a glass filled with crushed ice; top with the rhubarb soda.


Verdict: The rhubarb rounds out the sweetness of the strawberries, and the maple gives it all a nice depth. And there’s mint! Who doesn’t like mint? In short: pretty much perfect.