refresh me
Recipe: mint lime syrup
Most of you know what a heat wimp I am. As we move firmly into summer and our runs increase in distance and duration, I’ve taken to 4 am wake ups to avoid running in direct sunlight as much as possible. In the mountains, we start our runs in 30-40°F temperatures, which tragically climb into the 60s and 70s as the sun rises in the sky. 80s on the really hot days. I know many people think 60s and 70s are positively balmy, but that sun is intensely strong at 10,000 feet when you are sucking air like a Hoover running up a steep trail. But yeah, I am a heat wimp.
Besides sticking my head in the freezer (there is no air conditioning in the mountains), I keep cool by lurking about in the shade (dry heat) and keeping hydrated. I drink water and unsweetened iced tea almost exclusively, but when we entertain, I like to splurge on some kind of fruity infusion beverage. Entertaining season is upon us! While I was flipping through Marisa’s new book Preserving by the Pint, her mint lime syrup caught my eye.
preserving by the pint, marisa’s second book
so many lovely recipes and photographs
Actually, there are a ton of recipes in her book that piqued my interest. It’s full of quick recipes for small batches of pickles, jams, salsas, butters, sauces, etc. So instead of processing 20 pounds of peaches in one never-ending canning session, you have a lovely guide for making a single jar of pickles or two half-pints of strawberry jam in under an hour. Nice.
mint, limes, sugar, water
pluck the mint leaves, juice the limes
pouring water into the sugar to make a simple syrup
This is a lovely mint lime syrup that requires very little time, effort, and ingredients. You can add a little of it to soda water for a nice sparkling beverage, or you can jazz it up with some booze. The mint and lime scream mojito to me.
stir the mint leaves into the sugar syrup
add the lime juice
strain the syrup
mint lime syrup
The yield is a pint of the syrup and it stores well in the refrigerator for weeks, though I doubt it will last that long in summer. I’m sure you can think of all manner of cocktails to mix with this lovely infusion of minty and limey. We went with Jeremy’s favorite gin, CapRock. I added more lime juice to the cocktail to counter the sweetness of the syrup. It was delightful and it made the summer sun bearable for this heat wimp.
mint lime syrup, bitters, gin, ice, seltzer water, lime and mint for garnish
topping it all off with seltzer in a highball
a deliciously refreshing mint limey cocktail
Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of Preserving by the Pint from Running Press.
Mint Lime Syrup
[print recipe]
from Preserving by the Pint by Marisa McClellan of Food in Jars
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 cups packed mint leaves, washed
2 limes, juice of
Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the mint leaves and lime juice until combined. Simmer for 5-6 minutes. Allow the syrup to cool. Strain out the solids through a sieve. Store in a 1 pint glass jar. Keeps for weeks.
Minty Limey Cocktail
ice
2 oz. gin (my favorite is CapRock)
1 oz mint lime syrup
squeeze of lime
6-7 dashes of bitters (I used grapefruit bitters)
seltzer water
Fill a highball glass with ice. Add the gin, mint lime syrup, a squeeze of lime, and bitters. Top with seltzer water.
more goodness from the use real butter archives
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crème de cassis (black currant liqueur) |
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cucumber spritzer |
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elder fruit salad cocktail |
|
strawberry syrup |
June 30th, 2014 at 5:11 am
Mmmm….we make a mint & lime iced green tea, but steep the mint with the tea & stir in the sugar when the tea is still hot. I think I’ll try making it with this syrup instead, so we can have it less or more sweet as desired! I’ve been close to your old neck of the woods this week (DC, not Williamsburg) and it’s starting to get toasty!
June 30th, 2014 at 9:04 am
Oooh this sounds like it would also work great for homemade popsicles. Maybe with some pieces of cucumber in it. Yum!
June 30th, 2014 at 7:36 pm
Gin, my favorite ‘fruit’ ;)
This simply has to be on my “to-do” list for the Fourth. Sweet tea is a Southern favorite; jazz and pizazz it with mint and lime and it screams to be a celebration within itself.
Great timing. Tomorrow is my last run to the grocers before family arrive. Mint and limes, here I come! :)
June 30th, 2014 at 11:20 pm
I’m a heat wimp, too, and I live in farthest southern California, less than a mile from the beach!!
xo Linda
July 1st, 2014 at 5:32 am
I have a diagnosis! Heat wimp! ;-)
Looks like a lifesaver — thank you!
July 1st, 2014 at 7:47 am
Thank goodness I live more far north and get a cool ocean breeze in socal….no heat wimping here, but your recipe sure looks tasty! I love mint and lime….great combination!
July 2nd, 2014 at 1:17 pm
GREAT use for the masses of mint that have taken over my alley bed! Thanks, Jen…
July 4th, 2014 at 9:09 am
Oh SO refreshing!
July 13th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
[…] from Use Real Butter made my Mint Lime Syrup. It’s such a good refresher for this time of […]
July 17th, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Kristin – mint and lime iced green tea sounds so good! What a great idea.
Mittens – mmm, I love cucumber, lime, and mint together!
CoffeeGrounded – :)
Linda – ha ha, glad I’m not the only one.
Bette – hee!!!!
Pey-Lih – thanks!
M.K. – oooh, I’m jealous you have so much mint!
jill – :)
September 3rd, 2017 at 5:51 pm
I adjusted the Mint Lime Syrup to one Lime but also added the zest from the same lime. I used medium heat only stirring every now and then until solids completely dissolved, then turned off heat and let steep while it cooled. Terrific flavor. Strained.
Recently we took a trip to Cuba where Mojitos originated. One of the tours we went on for our people to people exchange was a basement bar where they showed us how to make the (their) perfect Mojito (They use lemons not limes and add bitters to their modern take). After they finished their presentation I shared my (perfect) version as follows: Take 2 to 3 lime wedges, squeeze into a tall cocktail glass, take about 4 to 6 leaves of fresh mint, spank the mint to wake up the flavor, then tear the leaves over the lime wedges in the glass. MUDDLE. Add 1/2 to 1 oz of the Mint Lime Syrup, muddle some more. Add ice to just below the rim. Add a citrus rum (I prefer Bacardi Limon) until the glass is about half full; stir. Then fill the glass with Sprite, 7UP, Ginger Ale or Club Soda – your preference (I use Sprite). Stir again, garnish with a Lime wedge and enjoy!
October 3rd, 2018 at 6:22 am
[…] from Use Real Butter made my Mint Lime Syrup. It’s such a good refresher for this time of […]