Sunday, August 25, 2013

Hemingway, Bond (James Bond), and Me

My Mojito

Let's talk about that tasty little Cuban cocktail known as the mojito.  I like it on a hot summer evening;  the fictitious Mr. Bond drank it in Die Another Day; and the very real Hemingway enjoyed it at the place where it was invented:  La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana.

You can find lots of recipes for it on the Internet.  Most generically call for mint, others are more specific and use spearmint.  But you don't want just any mojito, do you?  You want the real deal and that means using Mojito Mint. This is the first year I've seen it at my local nursery so of course I snapped it up.  Aside from being a great cocktail ingredient, it's also a pretty great plant, provided you plant it alone in a pot because, like all mints, it has a very invasive growth habit.  
Mojito Mint

Mojito Mint is not demanding; it likes full to part sun.  Keep it watered and it will grow up to 36" although mine is closer to about 18" probably because the small pot I have it in has limited its growth.  It's hardy to zone 5 and lives happily surrounded by all sorts of other plants.

Salud!


Bookshelf:  Container Gardening Books

7 comments:

Jansbrushstrokes said...

I never knew there was such a thing as "mojito mint!" I think I need some! Have you tried growing cilantro in a pot? I'm giving up:
http://gardening-wars.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-summer-of-cilantro.html

Miriam said...

J Clark: Thanks for your comment. Hope you have luck finding the mint. On the subject of cilamtro, yes, I've grown it in a pot. The thing with cilantro is it grows and then bolts (sets seed) REALLY fast. At that point it's bitter and virtually unusable. So one thing you might try is planting some every couple of weeks. That's easy to do if you have a big pot with a lot of surface area and you plant seeds. In this way, you should always have some ready for harvest. Let me know if you have any luck. Happy gardening!! --Miriam

jamesd3rd said...

This had put me on a quest to find some. I had better dust off my fedora and oil my bullwhip a la Indiana Jones because I don't know how long it will take.

Miriam said...

Good luck! One plant should keep you in good supply. And in CA, it will definitely survive the winter.

DMR said...

Now that we are in the desert, I am totally going to try to grow this!

DMR said...

I can't wait to try to grow this!

Miriam said...

DMR--Yes, you'll definitely want to give it a try. Plus a few extra mojitos might help you make that transition to the desert a lot easier.