Updated August 4, 2026 by George Ciuciureanu, co-founder of Thirsty Bartender.
How do you make a mojito?
A mojito is 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves, a sugar cube, 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice, and 0.5 oz simple syrup, pressed gently in a tall glass, then built up with ice, 1.5 oz white rum, and about 4 oz of sparkling water. Stir once, gently, and garnish with a lime wheel. Five minutes, no shaker required, and the whole thing lives or dies on one detail: how you treat the mint.
Press it gently and you get a drink that tastes like a Havana afternoon. Shred it and you get lawn clippings in soda water. This is the recipe our Mojito Kit is built around, with the rum in the box, the lime squeezed fresh, and every measure worked out to the millilitre. Yes, the alcohol is included. Order by 5 PM and it's at your door tomorrow, anywhere in the GTA.
The mint rule: press, never shred
Every disappointing mojito in history has the same autopsy report: somebody attacked the mint. Muddle it like you're grinding pesto and the leaves release chlorophyll and bitter compounds, and the drink goes swampy before the rum ever arrives. The flavour you actually want lives in the oils on the leaf's surface, and those give themselves up with barely any persuasion.
So our card says exactly this: press the mint gently, 4 to 6 times, with the back of a spoon or a muddler, and do not shred it. If the mint still looks like mint when you're done, you did it right. That's the entire secret.
Why our card uses a sugar cube and syrup
Most recipes pick a side: granulated sugar for the muddle or syrup for the sweetness. Ours ships both, and each has a different job. The sugar cube goes in with the mint, where its texture gives the leaves something to press against, coaxing the oils out while the lime juice slowly dissolves it. The half ounce of simple syrup then guarantees the sweetness lands the same in drink one and drink sixteen.
And the numbers are the same no-waste engineering as every kit we make. Sixteen one-ounce pours of lime juice is 473 ml, exactly the bottle of freshly squeezed lime juice in the 16-drink box. Sixteen half-ounces of syrup is 237 ml, exactly that bottle too. The 750 ml of Bacardi and six cans of sparkling water run out on the same last round, with just enough margin for an honest pour and a topped-up glass. Follow the card, garnish drink sixteen, and the box is empty.
The mojito recipe
Yield: 1 cocktail
Prep time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Glass: Tall (highball)
Ingredients
- 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves
- 1 sugar cube
- 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
- 0.5 oz simple syrup
- 1.5 oz white rum
- About 4 oz sparkling water, more to taste
- Ice
- Garnish: 1 dehydrated lime wheel
Method
- Add 8 to 10 mint leaves to a tall glass. Add 1 sugar cube, then pour in 1 oz lime juice and 0.5 oz simple syrup.
- Gently press the mint 4 to 6 times with the back of a spoon or a muddler, until the sugar cube is mostly dissolved. Do not shred the mint.
- Add ice, then pour in 1.5 oz white rum.
- Top with about 4 oz sparkling water and give it one gentle stir.
- Garnish with a dehydrated lime wheel.
Building drinks for two? Prep both glasses side by side through step two, then finish them together. The mojito is built in its own glass, so there's no shaker bottleneck, which is why it might be the easiest crowd cocktail we make.
Why Bacardi, and why sparkling water instead of lemon-lime soda
The rum in every kit is Bacardi white, and the choice is less complicated than our usual testing stories: the mojito was practically raised on this rum. It's light, dry, and clean, which is exactly what a drink this fresh needs, a rum that carries the mint and lime instead of wrestling them.
The top-up matters just as much. Plenty of bars stretch a mojito with lemon-lime soda, and the result drinks like a candy version of itself. Our kit ships plain sparkling water, because the sweetness is already handled by the cube and the syrup. The bubbles are there for lift, not for sugar.
Mojitos for a crowd
The mojito has a superpower no shaken cocktail can match: it's built entirely in its own glass. No shaker, no strainer, no rounds queueing behind one tin. Line up four tall glasses, drop the mint, sugar, lime, and syrup down the row, press each one, then ice, rum, and bubbles straight down the line. Four drinks in about six minutes, and every guest watches theirs get built, which beats any bar's service for theatre.
The 16-drink kit covers six to eight people for an evening at two to three drinks each. For pairing the night's food, our cocktail party menu guide puts the mojito beside anything grilled, and the complete hosting guide handles the rest of the evening.
The Toronto part
A proper mojito night assembled solo means a rum run, a mint hunt through three grocery stores for a bunch that isn't wilted, limes that may or may not be juicy this week, and an hour of squeezing. The kit lands it all in one box: the Bacardi, fresh mint, freshly squeezed lime juice, house simple syrup, sugar cubes, sparkling water, and dehydrated lime wheels we make in-house. Order by 5 PM and it's at your door next day, Toronto to Mississauga, Scarborough to Vaughan, Etobicoke to Markham. Doesn't matter what the weather app says: the second a mojito is in your hand, it's patio season.
Mojito FAQ
What is a mojito made of?
White rum, fresh mint, lime juice, sugar, and sparkling water, built over ice in a tall glass. Our card runs 8 to 10 mint leaves, 1 sugar cube, 1 oz lime juice, 0.5 oz simple syrup, 1.5 oz Bacardi white rum, and about 4 oz sparkling water.
Why does my mojito taste bitter?
Over-muddled mint, almost every time. Shredded leaves release chlorophyll and bitter compounds. Press gently, 4 to 6 times with the back of a spoon, just enough to bruise the leaves and mostly dissolve the sugar cube. The mint should still look like mint.
Do you shake a mojito?
No. The mojito is built directly in the glass: press the mint with the sugar, lime, and syrup, then add ice, rum, and sparkling water and stir once, gently. Shaking would flatten the bubbles and pulverize the mint.
What rum is best for a mojito?
A light, dry white rum. Our kit ships Bacardi white, the rum the mojito grew up with: clean enough to let the mint and lime lead. Aged rums add caramel and oak notes that crowd this drink.
Sparkling water or soda in a mojito?
Plain sparkling water. The drink's sweetness should come from the measured sugar and syrup, not the top-up. Lemon-lime soda turns a fresh cocktail into a sweet one.
Can I make a mojito without alcohol?
Yes, and it's the easiest mocktail in the book: build the same drink and skip the rum. The mint, lime, syrup, and bubbles stand on their own, so a non-drinking guest gets the same glass, the same garnish, and the same drink minus the spirit.
Where can I buy a mojito kit in Toronto?
Order our Mojito Kit before 5 PM and we deliver next day across the GTA. Fresh mint, freshly squeezed lime juice, house simple syrup, sugar cubes, sparkling water, dehydrated lime wheels, the printed recipe card, and the Bacardi in the box. Kits come in 4, 8, or 16 drinks, from $59. The alcohol is included.
Sending it as a gift? The Mojito Kit's $59 starter size makes it the easiest first gift in our lineup, and our housewarming gift guide matches a kit to every friend. Free gift note at checkout, delivery date of your choosing. Not sure they're mojito people? A Thirsty Bartender e-Gift Card arrives instantly and lets them pick.
Best served with a patio chair angled at the sun, mint that still looks like mint, and the smug calm of someone who didn't shred it.