Iced Mint Green Tea Mojito

Say hello to my new beverage of choice.

I didn't think you could improve on fresh from the garden, ice cold, sweet spearmint tea.

Boy was I wrong.

If you add to that tea a squirt or two of fresh lime juice, muddled spearmint leaves, and a shot of rum?

Well, my oh my! You haven't just got a drink. You've got yourself a beverage.

And if you're the kind of girl (or guy!) like me who considers the best alcoholic beverages to be those that don't really taste a thing like alcohol, you can be assured this is not an overly strong drink. The alcohol is noticeable but doesn't overpower the tea. It's more of a nice sidekick than the main feature.

And if you're the kind of girl (or guy!) like me who couldn't tell you the difference between reisling and pinot noir, you can be assured this drink is simple enough for anyone to make. Seriously, if I can do it, you can do it! You won't have to spend more than a few minutes gazing at the gargantuan alcohol aisle before picking out what you need. Just ask yourself three questions. Is it rum? Is it clear? Is it not ridiculously expensive? If the answer to all three of these is yes, pick up the bottle and rum...I mean run! to the checkout.

I made this recipe with my instant iced tea maker since that's usually how I make my non-alcoholic mint iced tea. If you have a tea maker, I would suggest making the full pitcher of tea and keeping it around. It's absolutely delicious all by itself, and it can be made into a cocktail in just a few short minutes after a long day at work.

If you don't have a tea maker, simply brew yourself a cup or two of tea and then just add 2 teaspoons sugar to each individual glass.

This drink is perfect (perfect!) for a hot summer day. Cool, refreshing, relaxing. So what are you waiting for? Get yourself to the store and you'll be sipping this sweet, fresh cocktail in no time!

Iced Mint Green Tea Mojitos
Mojito recipe serves 1 but can easily be multiplied to serve a crowd
Recipe adapted from Skinny Taste

For the tea:
3/4 cup sugar
10 spearmint stalks, cut in thirds to fit into a coffee filter (You can also tear the leaves off, but I find cutting is much faster and simpler)
3 green tea bags
Ice
Water

For each mojito (multiply the quantities by the number of mojitos you'll be preparing):
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
4 spearmint leaves
1 oz white rum
1/2 cup brewed iced green spearmint tea

Directions:
1. For the tea, fill a 3 quart iced tea maker with enough water for the full pitcher. Place cut spearmint stalks and tea bags into a standard size coffee filter. Put in the filter slot of your iced tea maker. Fill pitcher up with ice up to the line marked "ice." (This is real rocket science here, I tell you). Dump sugar over top of the ice. Plug in your tea maker, put brew strength on high (if you have a brew strength), and turn your iced tea maker on. Set it and forget it!

2. For the mojitos, in a glass combine 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice and 4 spearmint leaves. Use a chopstick, knife or other long pokey object to "muddle" the two together. Essentially, you want the leaves to release some of their amazing mintyness into the rest of the drink, so just give it a few good stabs. Add 1 oz white rum and a few ice cubes. Pour 1/2 cup brewed spearmint tea over all. Now go relax and have yourself a drink.