The Merits of a Refreshing Cocktail or My Inability to Make a Good Mojito

 

So it seems summer has descended upon DC.  Perhaps not “officially” as that won’t happen until June 21^st, but in terms of the actual weather we are experiencing; definitely summer.  For a girl with curly hair I can always tell when summer has arrived in the district; the humidity settles and it seems like my plethora of curls doubles in size. 

In any case, regardless of the heat I really love DC in the summer; there are just so many things to do!  For instance, a summer evening spent at an outdoor happy hour just makes my day.  One of my favorite places to grab a cocktail after work is a sushi place near my office called Nooshi.  They have happy hour Monday through Friday and all of their drinks are half off.  Simply delightful to sit outside on a warm evening with a spicy crunchy tuna roll in front of you while sipping a mojito… or four.  When the weather is warm and the humidity is so heavy you feel as though you are wading through the air not just simply walking, something as refreshing as a mojito just hits the spot.  I’m not even a rum enthusiast, but I just love me some mojito on a warm night.

A few months ago some of my very best girlfriends and I all convened in Los Angeles to visit a friend of ours who now lives there.  After we’d all arrived, our very gracious host announced that she’d gotten the ingredients so we could make homemade mojitos!  Fantastic!  What better way to enjoy the delightful weather of LA in February (70+ degrees) than with one of my all time favorite drinks.  Thanks to google we quickly pulled up a recipe for the drink and got to work.  Now after all of the mojitos I've had in the past, the following thought had never crossed my mind: mojitos are really hard to make!  Or at the very least hard to make well.  There are just so many steps involved.  They are a lot of work!

We set ourselves to the task with diligence, but the drinks did not turn out like the ones I’ve so enjoyed elsewhere.  I suppose someone, somewhere, might attempt to say something profound like, only with hard work can you achieve stellar results, but that was just not the case with us. For that particular evening I believe we compensated by just putting extra rum into everyone’s drink, and for the most part we were happy.  Really it was the company of friends that made the evening great, not just a mojito.  Still, I gained a new respect for the work that must have gone into each and every one I’ve had in the past. 

For sure the next time I visit Nooshi for their happy hour, with each and every sip of mojito, I will appreciate it just a little bit more now than I did before.  After all, a well muddled mint leaf and extra rum is no small thing; not on a warm night where a refreshing drink and time spent with great friends can turn your whole outlook around.