Raise your hand if you'd rather be lounging in a cabana right now, icy drink by your side. Us too, but we'll settle for just the last part (and lots of it). Whether you like yours frothy and sweet or lean and stiff, send them our way. We probably won't hang a plastic monkey on the rim or serve them in a coconut...
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What you'll need: watermelon, gin, rosemary, sugar and lemon.
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First step: make the rosemary-infused simple syrup.
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The rosemary was lovely and tender -- straight from Amanda's windowbox!
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You also need lots of fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
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And a ripe, juicy watermelon. Ours was perfect.
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Cutting the melon into cubes makes it easier to whiz up in the blender.
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Which we did next, with the lemon juice.
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We then added some of the cooled rosemary syrup to taste.
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Into a pitcher -- or in our case, a large Mason jar.
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After we added the gin and a little water, we gave it a good stir.
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Serve it over plenty of ice!
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The ingredients for the mojito: raspberries, sugar, white rum, lemon, basil, red wine vinegar, and turbinado sugar.
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You start the mojito by making a simple sugar syrup.
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A few raspberries go a long way in theis recipe.
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Pressing the berries through a sieve -- you get a lovely scarlet puree.
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The sugar syrup and the raspberry puree get mixed together.
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And then, you add red wine vinegar to taste. We recommend using the full amount.
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Turbinado sugar is great for muddling!
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Muddling the lemon pieces with the sugar. You can do this right in the glass if you're using sturdy tumblers.
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Emiko's generous with the rum -- you can always hold back a little if you like your mojitos on the gentler side.
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The raspberry vinegar syrup (acetosa) goes in, along with a splash of soda water -- isn't the color beautiful?
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Cheers!
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