Spicy Strawberry Mojito

ByNicole Langdon Hours Hours Updated on
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A spicy twist on a classic mojito recipe, this strawberry jalapeno mojito is the perfect craft cocktail for a warm summer day.

Strawberry jalapeno mojitos garnished with fresh mint.

Summer for us means fresh produce (especially pick-your-own strawberries), fruity cocktails, and warm, sunny days by the water. That means we’re always looking for new, fun, and refreshing drinks to make for ourselves, and of course, to share with you! 

We recently went down the street to our local farm to pick some strawberries, and of course ended up picking far more than we expected (it’s very easy to get carried away when we keep seeing a beautifully ripe strawberry and claiming “okay just one more!”). 

So with our 6 pounds or so of strawberries we had to figure out what to do with them. And as our thoughts always revolve around this blog, we naturally decided to remake our very first cocktail that we posted on The Candid Cooks and give it the photos it deserves. 

This spicy strawberry mojito is sweet, spicy, and perfectly refreshing. We love to whip up a batch of these to enjoy on our balcony or bring to a day by the lake. It’s also the perfect cocktail to make a big batch of for a garden party or summer Sunday brunch.

What This Recipe Entails

This cocktail takes a little more prep work because of the fresh strawberries, jalapenos, and mint. It’ll take a couple minutes to wash and prep your fresh produce before you can make the drink. Otherwise, this recipe is super straight forward.

  • Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

A traditional mojito is made with white rum, mint, lime, simple syrup, and club soda. We took the foundation of a true mojito and simply added strawberries and jalapeno to create this sweet and spicy riff on the cocktail!

  • Strawberries – Muddling fresh strawberries into the rum, lime, and simple syrup gives this drink its refreshing and sweet flavor. Ripe strawberries are great for this recipe, but slightly overripe ones work well too since they tend to be extra sweet and the texture doesn’t matter!
  • Mint leaves – Mint is a very powerful flavor, so tweak this recipe to your tastes by adding or subtracting a mint leave for two. I tend to like my mojitos stronger on the mint while Alex likes the mint to be a little more subtle. 
  • White rum – While almost everyone knows of Bacardi, we actually recommend Don Q or Curzan white rums because we find them to both taste better and be decently cheaper. 
  • Simple syrup – Don’t buy simple syrup, make it yourself! It’s better, cheaper, and can be made with so many different flavors! We always have at least 5 different simple syrups in our fridge at any given time, like our cranberry rosemary simple syrup. 
  • Club soda – If you’re like us and always end up buying club soda just to throw away half of it when it goes flat, we recommend getting a SodaStream! We love being able to quickly make bubbly water for drinks like this (no it isn’t technically club soda, but we’re okay with that).
Two strawberry jalapeno mojitos.

Equipment

While it’s easy to make our spicy strawberry mojito, you will need a few useful bar tools:

  • Cocktail shaker
  • Muddler
  • Hawthorne strainer
  • Bar spoon

We have this awesome 11-Piece Cocktail Shaker Set from Mixology and Craft that includes everything you need (and more!). Get yourself a set if you don’t already have these tools in your kitchen, and if you enjoy making cocktails at home!

How To Make A Spicy Strawberry Mojito

  1. First, wash and prepare the strawberries, jalapenos, and mint. Remove and discard the tops of the strawberries, then slice them in half if they’re on the large side. Slice the jalapeno into small disks (leave the seeds in if you want your cocktail to be extra spicy!). De-stem some of the mint leaves, while leaving a few sprigs intact for garnish.
  2. Next, add the strawberries, rum, simple syrup, and lime juice to a shaker and muddle until the strawberries are thoroughly pulverized.
  3. Then, add the mint leaves and jalapenos to the shaker, and shake well – without ice. You want to be gentle with the fresh mint leaves so as not to bruise them, which can impart a bitter flavor. Shaking without ice allows you to properly agitate the ingredients before chilling the drink.
  4. Now, add ice to the shaker and shake briefly to chill the cocktail.
  5. Using a Hawthorne strainer, strain into a Collins glass filled with ice cubes. Top with club soda, garnish with a fresh mint sprig and serve with a straw.

And just like that, we have a light and refreshing cocktail perfect for a warm summer day. Cheers!

Spicy mojito with jalapeno, strawberry, lime, and mint.

Expert Tips

  • Adding club soda – When adding the club soda to the drink, we recommend using a little bar spoon trick to get the club soda to the bottom of the glass instead of floating unmixed at the top. A traditional bar spoon is designed with a twisted handle; this allows for easy layering of drinks, as liquid hugs the handle while being poured. All you have to do is turn the bar spoon upside down, stick it into the glass (all the way to the bottom), and pour the club soda slowly down the handle. The design of the spoon does the rest! This technique allows for minimal loss of carbonation and lifts the more flavorful cocktail ingredients higher in the glass, so that you get the perfect sip right away. It’s also a neat party trick 🙂
  • Mint garnish – The fresh mint garnish is absolutely crucial to making the perfect mojito! You want to nestle this close to the straw, so that when you go to drink your mojito the smell of fresh mint hits your nose right away. Without it, you may find your mojito isn’t quite minty enough – because a lot of the flavor in this cocktail actually comes from what you smell!
  • An extra special garnish – Sometimes we like to make our cocktails look extra pretty for a date night, special anniversary, or just because we’re feeling fancy. If you’re looking to do the same, build up your Collins glasses by layering ice, sliced strawberries, and lime wedges. Then add the mint sprig and a couple jalapeno slices on top. That’s what we did to make the cocktails you see in the photos, and if I must say so myself, they’re stunning!
  • Hawthorne strainer – Since this cocktail is made with muddled strawberries and jalapenos with seeds, we want to make sure we strain all the pulp and seeds out before serving otherwise you’ll be left with a drink that looks a mess, has a weird mouthfeel, and likely clogs up a straw if you’re using one. A Hawthorne strainer is the best way to make sure all that doesn’t happen. But if you don’t already have one, a mesh strainer or sieve works well too.
  • Make it a batch cocktail – You can easily make a pitcher of this cocktail for a group whether it’s for a garden party or Sunday brunch. Simply add the rum, simple syrup, lime juice, and strawberries to a large pitcher, and muddle as normal. Then add in the jalapeno and mint and stir well. We recommend storing your premade drink in the fridge to keep it cold instead of using ice which would water it down. Once the party starts you can add some ice, give it a good stir, and serve it along with some club soda, mint sprigs, and other garnishes so your guests can make their own cocktails!

Love this recipe? Then you may also enjoy these summer cocktail recipes:

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Spicy strawberry jalapeno mojitos garnished with fresh mint.

Spicy Strawberry Mojito

Nicole Langdon
A spicy twist on a classic mojito recipe, this strawberry jalapeno mojito is the perfect craft cocktail for a warm summer day.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Drinks
Cuisine American
Servings 2 drinks
Calories 201 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • 4 large strawberries or 6-8 medium strawberries
  • 1 medium lime juiced
  • 6 mint leaves
  • 4 fluid ounces white rum
  • 1 fluid ounces simple syrup
  • 1 small jalapeno sliced into wheels
  • club soda
  • 2 mint sprigs for garnish

Instructions
 

  • First, wash and prepare the strawberries, jalapenos, and mint. Remove and discard the tops of the strawberries, then slice them in half if they’re on the large side. Slice the jalapeno into small disks. De-stem some of the mint leaves, while leaving a few sprigs intact for garnish.
  • Next, add the strawberries, rum, simple syrup, and lime juice to a shaker and muddle until the strawberries are thoroughly pulverized.
  • Then, add the mint leaves and jalapenos to the shaker, and shake well – without ice.
  • Now, add a few large ice cubes to the shaker, then shake briefly until chilled.
  • Fill two Collins glasses with ice. Strain mojitos into each glass usingusing a Hawthorne strainer, then top off with club soda.
  • Garnish with a sprig of mint leaves and serve with a straw.

Notes

Adding club soda – When adding the club soda to the drink, we recommend using a little bar spoon trick to get the club soda to the bottom of the glass instead of floating unmixed at the top. All you have to do is turn the bar spoon upside down, stick it into the glass (all the way to the bottom), and pour the club soda slowly down the handle. The design of the spoon does the rest! This technique allows for minimal loss of carbonation and lifts the more flavorful cocktail ingredients higher in the glass, so that you get the perfect sip right away. It’s also a neat party trick 🙂
Mint garnish – The fresh mint garnish is absolutely crucial to making the perfect mojito! You want to nestle this close to the straw, so that when you go to drink your mojito the smell of fresh mint hits your nose right away. Without it, you may find your mojito isn’t quite minty enough – because a lot of the flavor in this cocktail actually comes from what you smell!
An extra special garnish – Sometimes we like to make our cocktails look extra pretty for a date night, special anniversary, or just because we’re feeling fancy. If you’re looking to do the same, build up your Collins glasses by layering ice, sliced strawberries, and lime wedges. Then add the mint sprig and a couple jalapeno slices on top. That’s what we did to make the cocktails you see in the photos, and if I must say so myself, they’re stunning!
Hawthorne strainer – Since this cocktail is made with muddled strawberries and jalapenos with seeds, we want to make sure we strain all the pulp and seeds out before serving otherwise you’ll be left with a drink that looks a mess, has a weird mouthfeel, and likely clogs up a straw if you’re using one. A Hawthorne strainer is the best way to make sure all that doesn’t happen. But if you don’t already have one, a mesh strainer or sieve works well too.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cocktailCalories: 201kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 24mgPotassium: 162mgFiber: 2gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 226IUVitamin C: 51mgCalcium: 33mgIron: 1mg
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Keyword cocktail, jalapeno, mojito, muddler, shaker, spring, strawberry, summer

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90% of Nicole’s thoughts are about food. She’s had a passion for cooking (and eating) for as long as she can remember! Growing up, she started cooking with her mom at a young age, learned family recipes from her Italian grandmother, took every opportunity to make cookies (so many bake sales), and always loved going out to restaurants to try new foods.

Nicole currently works part-time as a marketing professional for OmieLife while also working nonstop on The Candid Cooks. As a former mechanical engineer, Nicole has consistently found herself at the intersection of creativity and logical reasoning. She credits not only her passion for photography, design, and writing, but also her problem-solving nature and desire to learn, as the foundation on which The Candid Cooks was built.

Nicole’s hobbies include anything that gets her moving - mainly hiking, skiing, ice skating, and dancing - as well as reading fantasy novels and scrapbooking. Her favorite food is a big plate of nachos, as long as they’re cheesy enough!

5 from 1 vote

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Recipe Rating




One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    So much flavor! I love making this in the summer with fresh ingredients from my garden. It feels so upscale but it’s surprisingly easy to make, so it’s my favorite treat when I want to sip on a fancy cocktail at home.

    Reply