Virgin Mojito (Nojito)
All the mint, lime and fizz of a mojito with no alcohol at all: mint pressed with lime and syrup, crushed ice and plenty of club soda, built in the glass in four minutes.
The "nojito" is a modern name for an old idea: take a mojito and leave out the rum. It works better than most alcohol-free versions because the mojito's flavor lives in the mint, lime and sugar, not in the spirit (see our Cuban Mojito recipe for the Havana story). Difford's Guide publishes its own alcohol-free mojito, the "Temperance Apple Mojito", which uses apple juice in place of rum and is rated at no more than 0.5% alcohol by volume. Our version keeps it simpler: the classic mojito build with more lime and soda where the rum used to be. This drink contains no alcohol.
🇺🇸 This one is American
All the mint, lime and fizz of a mojito with no alcohol at all: mint pressed with lime and syrup, crushed ice and plenty of club soda, built in the glass in four minutes.
🇨🇺 The original
The original daiquiri is three things shaken hard with ice: Cuban white rum, fresh lime juice and sugar, served straight up and very cold. See the Cuban Daiquiri recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
More lime, more soda
With no rum, extra lime and fizz fill the gap so the drink tastes bright and full, not like sweet mint water.
The same mint technique
Bruising, not shredding, keeps it fresh and green-tasting without bitterness.
Step by step
- Step 1
Method: Built. Put the mint leaves, lime juice and simple syrup in a tall Collins glass.
- Step 2
Press the mint gently with a muddler 4 or 5 times, just to bruise the leaves.
- Step 3
Fill the glass two-thirds with crushed ice and churn with a bar spoon for 10 seconds, lifting the mint up through the ice.
- Step 4
Pour in the club soda.
- Step 5
Pack more crushed ice on top to fill the glass.
- Step 6
Slap the mint sprig between your palms over the glass, tuck it in with the lime wheel and a straw, and serve.
Virgin Mojito (Nojito)
Serves 1 · 1 drink (alcohol-free) · 4 min total
Drink
- About 12 fresh mint leaves, plus 1 large sprig for garnish
- 1 oz (30 ml) fresh lime juice
- 3/4 oz (22 ml) simple syrup (1:1)
- 4 oz (120 ml) cold club soda
- About 1 1/2 cups crushed ice
Garnish
- The mint sprig
- 1 lime wheel
Method
- Method: Built. Put the mint leaves, lime juice and simple syrup in a tall Collins glass.
- Press the mint gently with a muddler 4 or 5 times, just to bruise the leaves.
- Fill the glass two-thirds with crushed ice and churn with a bar spoon for 10 seconds, lifting the mint up through the ice.
- Pour in the club soda.
- Pack more crushed ice on top to fill the glass.
- Slap the mint sprig between your palms over the glass, tuck it in with the lime wheel and a straw, and serve.
Adapted from Difford's Guide, "Mojito", with the rum left out: we raise the lime to 1 oz, use 3/4 oz 1:1 simple syrup and top with 4 oz club soda so the glass is just as full. Difford's alcohol-free "Temperance Apple Mojito" is the model for a fruitier version in Tips. diffordsguide.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Fruit nojito: add 4 raspberries or 2 slices of cucumber with the mint, or swap half the soda for cold unsweetened apple juice, as in Difford's Temperance Apple Mojito.
- Less sweet: cut the syrup to 1/2 oz.
- This drink is alcohol-free: no rum, no bitters, and club soda and simple syrup contain no alcohol.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- A virgin mojito is just mint lemonade. Folklore: the build (bruised mint, crushed ice, soda) is the mojito's, and that is what makes it taste like one.
- "Nojito" is an official name. Folklore: a popular nickname; we found no reputable source that coined it.
- Alcohol-free drinks can still contain traces of alcohol. Documented for some recipes: Difford's lists its Temperance Apple Mojito at a maximum of 0.5% alcohol by volume; this recipe uses no spirit and no juice besides fresh lime.
Every other cocktail
Classic Margarita
Blanco tequila, orange liqueur and fresh lime, shaken hard and poured over fresh ice in a half salt-rimmed glass: the sour that Mexico, Texas and California all claim.
Frozen Margarita (Dallas, 1971)
The margarita as Texas made it famous: tequila, orange liqueur, lime and a little syrup blended with crushed ice into a smooth, spoonable slush, the drink a Dallas restaurateur put in a machine in 1971.
Cuban Daiquiri
The original daiquiri is not pink and not frozen: white rum, fresh lime and a little sugar, shaken ice cold and strained into a chilled coupe, the way it was made in Cuba before America put it in a blender.
Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri
How America remade the Cuban daiquiri: white rum, lime and sugar blended with frozen strawberries and crushed ice into a thick red slush, the version that came with the electric blender.
Cuban Mojito
Havana's highball: mint pressed gently with lime and sugar, white rum, a mound of crushed ice and a splash of soda, built and churned right in the glass.
Negroni (and the Americano)
Equal parts gin, red bitter aperitivo and sweet vermouth, stirred cold and served over one big cube with orange: Italy's bittersweet classic, plus the older "American-style" Americano it came from.
Old Fashioned (the Whiskey Cocktail)
The drink that defined the word cocktail: whiskey, a little sugar, bitters and water, stirred over one big cube with an orange peel, before fruit salad got muddled into it.
Manhattan
Rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters stirred ice cold and served up with a cherry: New York's whiskey classic, and a famous origin story that cannot be true.
Tom Collins
Gin, lemon and sugar shaken, poured over ice in a tall glass and lengthened with soda: a sparkling lemonade for grownups, named, maybe, after a newspaper hoax.
Moscow Mule
Vodka, fresh lime and spicy ginger beer over ice in a cold copper mug: the 1940s American drink that sold a nation on vodka, and its famous mug.
Piña Colada (Caribe Hilton style)
Puerto Rico's official drink: white rum, sweet cream of coconut, a splash of heavy cream and fresh pineapple juice blended with ice, the way the Caribe Hilton shares its 1954 recipe.
Mai Tai (Trader Vic, 1944)
The real mai tai is not pink and has no pineapple juice: aged rum, lime, orange curaçao, almond orgeat and a touch of syrup, shaken and poured over crushed ice with mint and a spent lime shell.
Paloma
Mexico's everyday highball: blanco tequila, a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt topped with cold grapefruit soda over ice, built in the glass in under two minutes.
Gin and Tonic
London dry gin and cold tonic water over plenty of ice with a squeeze of lime: the two-ingredient highball with a malaria-medicine backstory that is half history and half legend.
Shirley Temple
The original American mocktail: cold ginger ale and a pour of grenadine over ice, with two maraschino cherries, the pink drink named for a child star who said she never liked it.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.