Kiwi Mojitos

Yesterday, Dave and I celebrated our 4 month anniversary 🙂

Those of you out there who are married know how fast the big day goes by – you plan for weeks, months, years even, making sure every last detail is perfect.  You lay awake at night (as your “not-stressed-about-the-details” fiance snores away next to you)  wondering if it’s all going to go according to plan, playing it all out in your head over and over and over.  Then the day finally comes and it’s a blur of aisle walking downage, photo taking, bite of cake eating, 2 bites of dinner eating, “thank-you for coming” repeating,  dancing (if you’re lucky) and BOOM it’s over – like THAT!

For us, selecting the perfect signature drink for the night was a big deal.  We did lots of brainstorming, and once we figured out what the perfect drink was, we did lots of research and experimentation – and the perfect drink was a Kiwi Mojito, a tribute to our honeymoon trip to New Zealand, a.k.a “kiwi land”.  I remember at the wedding, seeing our perfectly planned out Kiwi Mojito in the hands of many guests, thinking “augh, man I gotta get my hands on one of those!” and then next day, as we reminisced over our wedding day, that we couldn’t believe had just come and gone, we both realized that we never got to try one of those damn mojitos! DOH!

So hey, better 4 months late than never, eh?

Kiwi Mojitos

INGREDIENTS
*yields 2 drinks – it is  only Monday afterall!

2 kiwis, quartered

6 tbsp. kiwi/mint infused simple syrup
(recipe below)

2 shots of light rum

juice of 2 limes

10 mint leaves, chopped

seltzer water
(I used lime flavored)

FOR SIMPLE SYRUP

2 kiwis, quartered

6 splenda packets

1/2 cup water

10 mint leaves

1)  To make the simple syrup:  break up the 2 sliced kiwis with the bottom of a wooden spoon to release the juices, then add the 10 mint leaves, 1/2 cup water and splenda and boil over low heat until all the splenda dissolves.  Drain the syrup through a mesh strainer and let cool.

2) Take the rest of the kiwi slices and blend in a food processor or blender.

3) In a cocktail shaker, combine the blended kiwi, 6 tbsp. of simple syrup, 2 shots of rum, juice of 2 limes and chopped mint leaves.  Muddle with the end of a wooden spoon or muddler and then shake until fully combined.

4) Fill a tall glass with ice and fill half with the kiwi/rum mixture and top the remainder off w/ seltzer water.

Boy were these worth the 4 month wait!  They tasted fresh and light, a great summer time drink that all in all, isn’t too bad for you either! Using the splenda in the simple syrup can really save some calories, but of course you can use sugar.  It should also be noted that by mistake, I bought Gold Kiwis – which I didn’t even know existed! However, they tasted pretty much the same and made the drinks really pretty!

Gold Kiwis – who knew?

So Happy Monday, and cheers to 4 months!

Mojitos with umbrella straws on a Monday – oh and Dave wanted me to point out his mustache too