The Mojito!!

An icy mojito is summer's hottest treat8/9/2006
Bill Wippert/Buffalo NewsMojitos, regular and strawberry flavored, are ready to refresh, at Laughlin's Beef & Barrel on Franklin Street.
The hottest cold drink around this summer - the Mojito - originated in Cuba.
The Mojito (pronounced Mo HEE Toe) is a long summer slurp of white rum, mint and lime.
We were told (even by his competitors) that the guy to talk to about Mojitos is Pat Gilmartin, a veteran bartender who works at Laughlin's Beef & Barrel, 333 Franklin St. Turns out, the information was correct.
"My customers tell me I make the best Mojito in Buffalo," Gilmartin said. What's the secret? "First, having the proper ingredients, and second, taking the time to make it. It's a fussy drink." Gilmartin said he takes a rough-cut sugar cube ("It looks like a moth ball but it's better than granulated") and puts it on the bottom of a glass, then he adds mint leaves, saving a nice leaf for garnish. Sometimes, he adds a fresh strawberry.
Next comes a fresh lime wedge and 7UP. "I like the citric taste, but you can use simple syrup if you wish," he says. Then, he muddles. "I use the muddler behind the bar, which looks like a little brown baseball bat."
Next, the glass is filled with ice and a good shot of white rum, leaving a little room on top for a splash of lime juice and another little splash of 7UP.
Gilmartin shakes the whole thing "extensively to melt the sugar" and pours it into the serving glass, garnishing with the reserved lime sprig.
"It is," he says, "an eye-catching drink."
A note: Gilmartin estimates his Mojito is about two-thirds alcohol. "As my customers tell me, this is not a girlie drink."
Here's an approximation of his recipe:
Mojito
3 teaspoons sugar
Half a lime, cut in wedges
10 fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup fresh ice
11/2 ounces white rum
2 ounces 7UPPlace the sugar in a tall glass; add a lime wedge, then most of the 7UP, muddle to extract flavor. Top with remaining 7UP and the juice of another lime wedge.
Add the ice and the rum and shake extensively until the sugar melts. Serve in a tall glass, garnishing with mint and another lime wedge. Makes 1 serving.
- Janice Okun