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Drink

Mojito

A rum cocktail with lime, mint, powdered sugar, and club soda.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Lime and mint match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 846 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Mojito

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Muddle mint leaves and sugar.

  2. Fill with ice, then add rum and lime juice.

  3. Stir, then add a splash of club soda.

  4. Garnish with mint sprig.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

92Calories
0 gProtein
0 gFat
16 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Rum1/2 oz (15ml)32
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Peppermintnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lime + minttop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together846 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Rum + minttop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together139 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Rum + limetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together412 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Rum + sugartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Lime + sugartop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,332 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White rum
Provides the spirit base and the main flavour of the drink.
Lime juice
Adds acidity that brightens the drink and balances the sugar.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness that offsets the lime's sourness and dissolves easily into the drink.
Mint leaves
Provide aroma; muddling bruises the leaves so they release their aromatic oils.
Club soda
Adds carbonation and dilution, lightening the drink's body.

The step that matters

Muddle the mint gently. Pressing mint bruises the leaves and releases their aromatic oils. Over-muddling tears the leaves and draws out bitter, grassy compounds, so press just enough to release the fragrance.

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rum, lime, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Corianderfits about as well
  4. Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rum, lime, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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