The Virgin Mojito recipe
for your table
Add the lime wedges and sugar to the glass and muddle them.
Lightly muddle the mint, add it to the glass, and fill the glass with crushed ice.
Top it up with soda water for a refreshing drink, or ginger ale for a sweeter one. Stir from the bottom up.
Top it with a generous sprig of mint and a lime wheel.
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The story
Mocktails are the biggest shift in drinking this decade. Younger people are into "zebra striping": alternating drinks with and without alcohol. Alcohol-free menus get longer every year. Worldwide, the Virgin Mojito is the most frequently ordered mocktail. It makes sense, since mint and lime are the heart of a mojito, and they stay. It had been around in Cuba for a long time, too. Children and drivers there simply drank their mojitos without rum.
The right glass
Serve the Virgin Mojito just like the regular one, in a tall longdrink glass of 36 to 55 cl. Choose one with a sturdy base, because you'll muddle in it. Those who don't drink alcohol don't want a kids' glass. It's all about serving it just as beautifully. With one set of good longdrink glasses, you can serve your entire mojito menu, with or without rum. Find glasses with bases sturdy enough for muddling in our mojito glasses.
Bormioli Rocco Diamond Longdrink Glass 47 cl (6 pieces)
Arcoroc Islande Longdrink Glass 33 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 35,90.
The right tools
For a Virgin Mojito, besides a glass, you need a wooden muddler, a long bar spoon, a jigger for precise measuring, large ice cubes, and glass straws. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find them all in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Large cubes melt slowly, so your drink gets less diluted
Glass set (our pick 01) + 5 bar tools together € 98,70.
What do you make a Virgin Mojito with?
For a Virgin Mojito, you need the right base. On each drink page, you can read about the alcohol percentage, how it tastes, which cocktails it works in, and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Use ginger ale instead of soda and it will be sweeter and spicier. Tonic makes it drier, more suited to adults. For a fruity twist, muddle in strawberries or passion fruit. There’s even genuine alcohol-free white rum available these days, and it gets surprisingly close to the original. Want more? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Replace some of the sugar with a splash of elderflower syrup. It gives the Virgin Mojito more depth. Serve it with just as much care as the version with rum. With a mocktail, the garnish makes all the difference.
Good to know
What’s different from a regular Mojito
Just one thing, really: leave out the 5 cl of white rum. The lime, mint, cane sugar, crushed ice, and soda stay the same. That means most of the flavor stays too, because the freshness comes from the mint and lime. What you do miss is the rum’s light vanilla and cane sugar notes, and the warmth of alcohol in your throat. Add an extra half a centiliter of lime juice and a splash of elderflower syrup. That brings back the depth the rum usually gives the drink.
With Sprite or soda water
Soda water keeps the cocktail dry and lets the mint shine through. You will need the full two teaspoons of cane sugar, though. If you use Sprite or 7-Up, leave out most of the sugar. Those soft drinks contain around 9 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters, so 15 cl already contains about 13 grams. You’ll get a sweeter, milder version that kids like best. Ginger ale falls somewhere in between and adds a little spice. Whatever you use, pour it ice-cold and only top up once the glass is full of crushed ice.
Alcohol-free mojito in a pitcher
Normally, you muddle each glass individually. That takes half an hour for eight guests. Instead, put the juice and zest of eight limes and sixteen teaspoons of cane sugar in a pitcher and muddle them. Add eighty mint leaves and gently press them with a muddler. Put the pitcher in the fridge for half an hour. Then strain out the mint, otherwise it will turn bitter. Fill the glasses with crushed ice, pour in 6 cl of the mix per glass, and top up with soda water.
Alcohol-free white rum, does that work?
Alcohol-free rum alternatives are now a real thing, and of all the 0.0 bottles, they come closest to the original in this cocktail. You get the caramel, vanilla and oak notes you miss in a Virgin Mojito, without the harshness of alcohol. Use 5 cl per glass. A 70 cl bottle costs fifteen to twenty-five euros. Check the sugar content, though, as some brands are quite sweet. Taste it neat first, then adjust the cane sugar accordingly. The drink is perfectly good without one of these bottles too, just a little flatter.
Frequently asked questions
What goes into a virgin Mojito?
One whole lime cut into wedges, two teaspoons of cane sugar, ten fresh mint leaves, crushed ice and soda water or ginger ale. That's all you need. Just leave out the rum from the Mojito, and the freshness of the mint and lime comes through perfectly.
How do you make a mojito without alcohol?
Muddle the lime wedges with the sugar in the glass. Add the lightly muddled mint and fill the glass with crushed ice. Top up with soda water for a refreshing version or ginger ale if you want it sweeter. Stir from the bottom up and garnish with a generous sprig of mint and a slice of lime.
How do you make a virgin Mojito with Sprite?
Use Sprite or 7-Up instead of soda water and leave out most of the cane sugar. The lemonade is sweet enough already. Muddle the lime and mint as usual and top up with ice-cold lemonade. It will be sweeter and milder than with soda, and kids love it.
What is the best Virgin Mojito recipe?
Use a whole fresh lime, not bottled juice. Use real cane sugar. And gently muddle the mint instead of crushing it finely, or it will turn bitter. Crushed ice really makes a difference because it chills the drink faster and dilutes it evenly. Serve it in a tall glass holding 36 to 55 cl.
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