Deck the Halls with Bottles of Rum

It's that time of year again... That time where we all tear through our presents and then sit depressed at the fact that we have, not only 364 more days until Christmas, but also 3 more months of unbearable cold.  Somewhere around January 15th I give up and search for cheap tickets to Puerto Rico.  I do this daily for about five weeks, while intermittently scrolling through my pictures of the gorgeous beaches and crying.  Some might say this is self destructive.  No, in fact.  I see the glass as half full and instead consider this reaching towards my goal of a better future.  A future where it's 80 degrees on Christmas.  A future where I bathe in the ocean with a Medallia in hand on New Years.  A scarfless, jacketless future where adults laugh and children play carelessly.

But because this dream is highly unattainable on my current fiances and with my current educational standing.  So instead, I've decided to bring a little bit of Puerto Rico to Boston.  No, unfortunately not the warm, beautiful, sunny, beachy part, although it has been quite refreshingly not freezing thus far this year.  Instead, I decided to make the drink first introduced to me in Puerto Rico that continues to impress me with each sip.  It is by far one of the most refreshing, light drinks one could wish for.  The Mojito--it is simply seltzer, lime, sugar, mint and, of course, rum because absolutely everything in Puerto Rico (including cereal), has rum in it.

Because these were for a holiday party, I wanted to try to make them festive.  A coworker suggested adding cranberries as a garnish.  I emphasize garnish here because, despite my efforts to make this point clear to my friends, the cranberries and mint in this drink were not take as a representation of holly but instead, a salad.  So like I said, garnish.


Also, I don't really measure when I make these.  I'm going to try to provide you with measurements here but chances are yours might be a little different.  There's nothing I can do about this.  I just don't measure.

what you need...
8-10 oz Seltzer (plain, unflavored)
1/3 a lime (or less if you prefer it less limey)
~12 fresh mint leaves
1.5 oz simple syrup (I home make this but you can find this is a liquor store, also add more for sweeter)
3 oz silver rum (important that the rum is not spiced)
Whole cranberries (to garnish)
Ice

what you need to do...
1  In a tall glass, combine simple syrup, juice from lime, and mint leaves and muddle.  This is a term, for those of you who are unfamiliar, that means to use a blunt tool to firmly mash the ingredients together.  There are muddlers for this, however the back of a wooden spoon will work just fine.  Do this for about 2 minutes, or until all of the mint appears fairly bruised.  This is an important step, without it, you won't get the flavor of the mint at all.  The mint will stay in the drink as continued flavor so a straw will be helpful.
2  Add seltzer and rum and mix well.  Garnish with lime wedges and cranberries and add ice.  Play around with this a little bit.  The first time it may be a bit funky, but the more you make it the better it will taste.  You just have to figure out the perfect mixing for you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!