Virgin Mojito

I love mocktails & my all time favourite has to be the mojito. I cannot actually belive I've never attempted to make it at home until yesterday, it was such a hit that even the husband asked for seconds so i thought it had to go up on the blog

To make virgin mojito's for 6 people  you will need:

° 7up/Sprite ( I used a 2 litre bottle ).
° A good handful of fresh mint  per person .. roughly ripped up -  ( I bought 2 of the pre cut packs of mint you can get from most superstores )
° lime cordial ( I bought mine from asda next to all the dilute fruit juices)
° Ice cubes
° 1 lime per person cut into quarters

• To start if you have a pestle and mortar, lightly crush the mint leaves to release their flavour & scent. Divide equally between the 6 glasses

• Add in lime quarters into each glass, squeezing each quarter just before adding them to the glass to release their juice

• Pour in enough lime cordial into each glass  just as you would if you were making up a regular dilute squash and leave for a minimum of 5- 10 mins for the flavours to develop - I did this 20 minutes before serving and left the leaves to steep in the cordial

• When you're ready to serve, add a couple of ice cubes into each glass and top up with the 7up - give it a stir, ( I used a spoon to squash the limes a little more just before I added the 7 up ) And your mojito is ready to drink

Alternatively to make a large serving, you can add the mint, cordial & the lime to a jug & top up the jug with 7up/Sprite and serve straight fron the jug

My Dobsters mint Tea

I am definitely one that loves a good cup of tea at the end of a long hectic day, but drinking caffeine fuelled drinks in the evening isn't the way to go for a good nights sleep and there's not many herbal teas out there that i like either.  
So I made a few attempts at making fresh mint tea and couldn't quite get it right. Now my niece makes a mean cup of tea - Hence the title My Dobster's Mint tea- Dobster being my chosen term of endearment to call her by- so i got her to show me her version & this recipe is based on that with a tiny little twist 



For Dobster's Mint tea - with a twist you will need :

3 - 3 1/2 pints of water 
large bunch of fresh mint
4 inch piece cinnamon stick broken into pieces 
8-10 whole green cardamom pods cracked open
2 x pukka peppermint & liquorice teabags*
handful of mint leaves for garnishing
honey to sweeten - optional

• Pour your water and all the ingredients  except for the teabags into a large saucepan and on a high heat bring to the boil.
• When the water has reached boiling point, reduce to a low heat and leave to simmer till the water has reduced by about half.
• Add in the pukka tea bags and leave to simmer on a low heat for 10-12 minutes. Pour the tea into a teapot ( through a large tea strainer or plastic sieve to catch all the bits ) 
• Take the glasses or cups you are wanting to serve the tea in and drop a few mint leaves into the cups. Pour in the tea, sweeten with honey if wanted & serve 

* you'll find these in any superstore in the tea and coffee section