This watermelon mojito is the perfect, sweet, summer cocktail to enjoy on hot days! The addition of cucumber makes this cocktail extra hydrating and the fresh mint leaves and generous splash of rum are essential to making the best mojito!
Making your own cocktails at home is not only simpler than it sounds, but so much more delicious!
You get to control what goes in your drink and it’s a 10th of the cost of what you’d find at any restaurant or bar.
If you love making cocktails at home, I’d recommend investing in a Mixology bartender kit, but don’t worry, no special tools are needed to make this Watermelon Cucumber Mojito!
Why This Recipe Works
- Sweet watermelon paired with tangy lime juice and cooling effect of mint is the perfect combination of flavors.
- This recipe is customizable and can be considered a guide to helping you make the perfect drink. Adjust everything to your personal taste!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- watermelon – You can use precut, store-bought watermelon, but I prefer and recommend cutting a watermelon yourself. I find you can usually pick one that’s a lot sweeter and ripe and we want the best one for this mojito! Frozen watermelon is also an amazing option!
- cucumber – I love adding cucumber to this drink because it adds additional hydration but also balances the sweetness and the minty-ness so nicely! If you don’t have any, feel free to substitute with additional watermelon.
- fresh mint leaves – Essential to a great mojito. There is no substitution.
- rum – Any kind of rum works. For a classic mojito flavor profile, go with a white rum. If you need help choosing one, check out this article: The 5 Best Rums for Your Mojito.
- lime juice – Make sure you are squeezing it fresh from real limes. Pre bottled lime juice will not work and should be avoided. I like using this Citrus Juicer when making cocktails because it extracts all of the juice very quickly.
- simple syrup – Adds additional sweetness and helps muddle the mint.
- seltzer water – Used to top the mojitos off. The perfect finishing touch!
Step by Step Instructions
- Muddle the fresh mint leaves with the simple syrup in either a glass jar with a lid or a traditional cocktail shaker. The leaves should remain intact, but be fragrant and have released some of their juices.
- Pour the lime juice and rum overtop the muddled mint and set aside.
- Add the cubed watermelon and cucumber slices to the blender canister.
TIP! It is essential that you peel the cucumber before blending or your juice will be a dark brown color and although the flavor is still nice, the mojito will not be pretty.
- Blend the watermelon and cucumber slices until completely pureed and smooth.
Because watermelon and cucumber are both very high in water content this mixture should blend together very easily without assistance or additional liquid.
If your blender is struggling to blend, push the watermelon and cucumber into the blade with the tamper, or if necessary, periodically stop the blender and push the watermelon and cucumber down with a spatula until pureed.
Avoid adding any water or liquid into the blender if at all possible as this will water down the mojito and make for a much less intense flavor.
- Optional step: Strain the watermelon cucumber puree over a fine mesh sieve to remove excess pulp. This will make your mojito have a super smooth texture.
- Add ice to the mint mixture, then pour the watermelon cucumber juice overtop. Screw on the lid to your jar or shaker and shake for 15-30 seconds.
TIP! The longer you shake, the more intense the mint flavor will be.
- Strain the mojito over ice between two drinking glasses and top with sparkling water. Taste and add additional simple syrup, if desired.
- Garnish with additional fresh mint and enjoy immediately!
FAQs
Use the back of a wooden serving spoon or spatula! Anything that will help you lightly mash the mint leaves until fragrant and juices have been released!
Classic mojitos usually use white rum, but I find spiced dark rums like Captain Morgan to be just as delicious! Use what you have. Hard to go wrong.
Yes! If you are out of cucumber, use an additional ½ cup of watermelon to substitute.
How to Pick a Good Watermelon Every Time
- It feels heavier than it looks.
- It has a good, dark sunspot on it. If the sunspot is really light or white, skip it. Look for one with a dark yellow or dark orange sunspot. The darker the better! That’s a sign it is SWEET and spent a long time bathing in the sun!
- If it sounds hollow when you tap it, it’s GOOD. If you didn’t really hear much of anything it’s either not going to be sweet, or be grainy!
How to Make Homemade Simple Syrup
Making simple syrup at home is so incredibly easy you’ll wonder why you ever bought it at the store in the first place!
All you need is 2 ingredients:
- cane sugar
- warm water
If you are vegan, make sure that the cane sugar is organic. This will ensure that the sugar was not processed through bone char to bleach it.
To make, simply combine ¾ cup of cane sugar with 5 ounces of warm water and whisk to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes, or until sugar has completely dissolved.
This will create about 8 ounces of syrup, enough for 4 cocktails. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It will keep for about 1 month.
More Vegan Summer Cocktails to Try
Watermelon Cucumber Mojitos
Ingredients
- 1 cup mint leaves - tightly packed
- 1-2 ounces simple syrup - adjust to your sweetness preference
- 1 cup watermelon - cubed
- ½ cup cucumber - peeled and sliced
- 4 ounces rum - white or dark both work
- 2 ounces lime juice - freshly squeezed
- Seltzer water - to top drinks off
- ice
Instructions
- Add fresh mint leaves and simple syrup to cocktail shaker or jar with lid. Lightly muddle the mint in the simple syrup until fragrant and the juices from the mint leaves have been released. Add in the lime juice and rum and set aside.
- In a blender, add the sliced cucumber and watermelon cubes and blend until completely pureed. If a smooth mojito texture is preferred, strain watermelon cucumber mix through a fine mesh sieve to remove any excess pulp.
- Add crushed ice to the mint mixture, then pour watermelon cucumber juice overtop. Shake for 15-30 seconds to combine. The longer you shake, the more intense the mint flavor will be.
- Strain mixture over two drinking glasses filled with crushed ice.
- Top each mojito with seltzer water. Add additional simple syrup, if desired to taste.
- Garnish with additional fresh mint and enjoy immediately!
Recipe Notes
- WARNING: Drinking distilled spirits, beer, coolers, wine and other alcoholic beverages may increase cancer risk, and, during pregnancy, can cause birth defects. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/alcohol. Please drink responsibly.
- Using frozen watermelon will make this drink extra cold and icy!
- You must peel the cucumber before blending or your mojito will be a dark brown color.
- It is essential to use freshly squeezed lime juice. Using bottled lime juice from the grocery store is not the same.
General note about salt
Please pay attention to the type of salt called for in the recipe (if applicable). Not all salts are made equal and cannot be substituted 1 for 1. If you are substituting table salt for kosher salt, you will need to cut the amount called for in the recipe by at least half.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: The Nutritional Information provided for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the facts listed is not and cannot be guaranteed.
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