Meyer Lemon Mojito

The idea of a summer cocktail conjures up a frosty glass filled with an icy, boozy libation that is fruity but not overly sweet. My Meyer lemon mojito uses lemons and mint from my garden, but any organic lemons work in this recipe, as would a packet of organic mint – exactly the amount needed here – found in most grocery stores.

Summer winding down and we will celebrate the end of the season with a batch of these over the weekend. Labor Day is just around the corner, can you believe it? Here in San Diego, September can bring us our hottest weather, but the pace of summer will have changed as most of us return to fall schedules and routines.

The dwarf Meyer lemon tree in our garden has served us well since last winter and we have enjoyed a bumper crop of fruit.  Our sturdy little tree is winding down, but is in blossom again, so we will have lemons again by early winter. My neighbor shares her year-round Meyers when our tree is not producing ripe fruit, and we load her up with navel oranges during the winter. It’s a great system that allows me to have these beauties most of the year.

So, here is a toast to the mighty Meyer! Mojito recipes are pretty similar, but I liked the mint-infused simple syrup in Gaida de Laurentis’ “Vodka Mojito”. I substituted white rum for the vodka and used Meyer lemons instead of the traditional limes. The mint syrup turned out to be a lemon-lime color, making for a pretty cocktail.

TIP: Make your syrup in the morning and chill in the fridge, along with the rum and club soda.