Friday Afternoon Happy Hour!! Skinny Mojito

I have a confession… one of those things that I always wish I had done in college, but never acted on.

I had a job all through school, I worked at a law firm. It was a great job for the political science major that I was. Looking back, it was the perfect job because as much as I loved working there, it cured me of my desire to become a lawyer. 😉  (No offense, my dad and sister are both attorneys)

Back to the confession… I always, and still do, wish that I had been a bartender.  There, I feel better…. I said it….

Ok, so you probably thought it was going to be something a little juicer, but for the good little girl that I was, who didn’t touch alcohol until I was 21, being a bartender was a wild and crazy idea that I loved to dream about, but kinda knew would never happen.

These days I get my fix by mixing drinks whenever I get the chance. Mixology is an art and I am making it my personal mission to master it, one happy hour at a time. :)

With the encouragement from my attorney sister (as we sipped Pina Coladas on the beach this summer) I decided that we need to start having a Happy Hour around here! For now, it is going to be Friday afternoons, but that might change in the future, we will see how this goes.

With out further delay, the Skinny Mojito… and the Best Regular Mojito you have ever had!!

Skinny Mojitos 1

When you mix a drink there are two things that contribute to the calories in the drink; 1) the alcohol and 2) the mixers. Since you cannot eliminate the alcohol (well you could but that would be no fun…) you need to control the calories with the mixers that you use.

In this case we are going to eliminate the simple syrup to make our skinny version. It ads about 50 calories and we are going to use the diet-tonic to sweeten the drink. We will also be leaving out the club soda since the diet-tionic covers that as well.

To start off, here is what you will need for the skinny version:

White rum
Mint leaves
Limes, sliced
granulated sugar
Diet-Tonic water

For the regular version you will need:

White Rum
Mint Leaves
Limes, sliced
Granulated Sugar
Simple Syrup
Club soda

From the bar you will need:

A glass (the glass in the picture is 12 oz)
A muddler
Ice

If you don’t have a muddler, the handle of a wooden spoon works great. As you see in the picture I have a stainless and plastic muddler and it is smooth on the bottom, I don’t really like it. It is really hard to get it to break up the leaves and the limes. A wooden one, like this muddler, works much better. If you get a plastic or metal one like mine, just make sure that it is textured on the end and not smooth. **update – I got the wooden muddler and I LOVE it!!! :)**

In both versions pick 10-12 mint leaves and put them in your glass. Squeeze several slices of lime into the glass (about a quarter of a lime) and add the squeezed limes to the cup. Sprinkle 1/4  to 1/2 of a teaspoon of granulated sugar into the cup on top of the limes and the mint. This little bit of sugar is not going to add much in the way of calories (only 4-8 calories), but the sugar helps break up the mint leaves when you muddle it and releases the flavor.

Skinny Mojito with muddler

Using the muddler and moderate pressure muddle the limes, mint and sugar together. If you do not muddle them well enough you run the risk of not being able to taste the mint.  20-30 seconds of muddling should do the trick. Now fill your glass with ice almost to the top.

Add 2 oz of white rum. (below picture is with ice and rum added)

Skinny Mojitos before club soda

For the skinny version top your drink off with the Diet-Tonic water, stir and serve.

For the regular version add 1/2 oz of simple syrup and top the glass off with club soda. Make sure to stir this version extra well because the sugar is a thick syrup and it takes a minute to incorporate into the rest of the liquids.

Skinny Mojito no banner

 

 ***These calculations were made by googling the caloric content of each item and the amount I added, this is not a scientific calculation and should only be used as a guide***

Calories in Skinny mojito: 146,  Calories in Regular mojito: 196

In my humble opinion, if you are going to go through the trouble to make a mojito… make the regular one!! It tastes SOOO much better with the real sugar :)

Note: This article contains some affiliate links. That means that if you choose to buy something through that link, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can view my disclosure policy here.

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Comments

  1. Stopping by from Thrifty Thursday… these look so good, I think I might have to add rum to my shopping list.

  2. Christina says:

    Perfect recipe! If you like coconut, try a coconut mojito. Substitute the white rum with coconut rum and instead of simple syrup and sugar use one tsp of cream of coconut. Shake and enjoy!

  3. beth says:

    Mojitos should never have tonic in them. The real way always calls for club soda. I learned in Puerto Rico 10 years ago from a bartender that made the perfect mojito. You can use Splenda for the simple syrup to reduce the calories.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Skinny Mojito recipe adapted from Leaving The Rut […]

  2. […] a tendency to make mojitos with far too much sugar or syrup. Yuck! That’s why I love this skinny version from Leaving the Rut so much – it’s not too sweet so the flavors are very bright and […]

  3. […] been ok with mint in drinks for years and the way that the local bars mix up the most delicious mojitos…  But for me, herbs belong in the dinner or the appetizer, not the cocktail, so I was half […]

  4. […] Skinny Mojito from LeavingtheRut.com -Grocery List- […]

  5. My Homepage says:

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    […] Find More Informations here: leavingtherut.com/friday-afternoon-happy-hour-skinny-mojito/ […]

  6. […] Mojitos. These are so light and refreshing. They are perfect for the arrival of Spring and warm weather. Here I have a recipe for a skinny mojito that leaves out the simple sugar for club soda (http://leavingtherut.com/friday-afternoon-happy-hour-skinny-mojito/#_a5y_p=4659930) […]

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