Paul Kushner
Here’s a question for you: What’s prettier than a traditional mojito? You guessed it—a watermelon mojito.
These bright pink and green drinks are the perfect treat to have on a young woman’s milestone birthday or to share with friends on a hot summer day.
We’ll give you some background on mojitos and teach you how to make this watermelon masterpiece in this handy guide.
How to Make a Watermelon Mojito
Get ready to awe your guests with this easy watermelon mojito recipe, which serves six. To make life easier on you when you go to make these mojitos, it’ll help if you have a mortar, pestle, and food processor at home.
Watermelon Mojito
If you aren't going to drink these watermelon mojitos right away, it's best to store them in the fridge without adding ice.
Once you're ready for them, fill up tall glasses with ice (or even frozen cubes of watermelon!) and pour the watermelon mojito over them.
Ingredients
- 30 fresh mint leaves
- 12 oz light rum (Bacardi is a good option)
- ½ C simple syrup
- 6 T lime juice
- Sliced watermelon
Instructions
- Using a mortar and pestle, grind approximately 30 large mint leaves
- Cut three to four thick slices of watermelon and remove the rind and seeds.
- Puree the watermelon in a food processor.
- Put your mashed mint, pureed watermelon, 12 ounces of light rum, ½ cup of simple syrup, and 6 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice (about three limes) into a bowl and mix them together.
- Pour the concoction into a pitcher.
About Watermelon Mojitos
The Mojito dates back to at least the 1500s, and there are countless theories about its origins. We’ll share a few of our favorites here with you. Havana, Cuba, often gets credit for being the Mojito’s country of origin—particularly a little restaurant and bar called La Bodeguita del Medio.
In reality, La Bodeguita’s fame is most likely from Ernest Hemingway’s admiration of how they prepared their Mojito, rather than the bar being the first to invent it.
Other claims suggest that African slaves in Cuba’s sugar cane fields came up with the Mojito. There are also stories about Sir Francis Drake landing in Havana and seeking medicine to heal his crew from dysentery and scurvy. The “El Draque” cocktail originated from this event, which is almost identical to traditional mojitos.
While we’re on the subject of traditional mojitos, they typically contain rum, club soda, fresh mint leaves, and sugar. In today’s modern-day world, where a new food or drink invention seems to pop up every day, it’s hard to know who came up with watermelon mojitos, which deviate slightly from the original recipe.
However, in our opinion, the important thing is that someone came up with this idea, for watermelon mojitos are one of our favorite summer cocktails.
Cheers!
You’ve likely already guessed that you’ll need to buy a watermelon to make this Mojito, but below are some other items to add to your grocery list.
These mojitos are beautiful on their own, thanks to the pink and green color from the watermelon and mint. However, to give them an extra flair, feel free to garnish your glasses with sprigs of mint.
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