Memorial Day weekend snuck up on me again. Do you all have big plans? I hope so. I’m imagining that you will be gallivanting around a lake, perhaps sipping cocktails on a yacht or at minimum, sipping clinking drinks on a patio whilst rocking a pair of white skinny jeans. Maybe I can accomplish the latter, but I’ll probably spend most of the weekend working, as usual. I have some ambitious blog projects in the works that I can’t wait to share with you all.
This “bootleg cocktail” will definitely be my summer drink and I hope it becomes yours. I discovered the bootleg at Brit’s Pub in Minneapolis when I went out for an after-dinner drink with Erin and Taylor. It was a chilly spring night, but I couldn’t resist the bar’s signature drink, which was a summery-sounding lemon and mint drink. I ordered mine with bourbon for some warmth and, on first sip, knew that I had to recreate it on the blog.
Basically, if spiked lemonade and a mojito collided in a blender, you would end up with a bootleg. Fresh mint leaves are blended together with fresh lemon and lime juice and natural sweetener. Most bootleg mixes use frozen lemonade/limeade concentrate, but I made mine fresh. Once you have your bootleg mix, just fill a glass with ice and pour in equal parts mix, liquor of choice and fizzy club soda. You definitely want to serve this drink with a straw, which will serve as a stirring device and help you avoid the awkward mint-bits-stuck-on-teeth thing. I recommend blending up your mint more thoroughly than I did in the pictures, but even then, you’ll need to give the drink a stir every now to redistribute the mint. That’s part of the drink’s appeal, really. It’s a clinky summer sipper. Limes are in short supply right now, so feel free to add additional lemon juice instead of the lime. My handheld citrus juicer gets every last bit of juice out of lemons and limes, so none goes to waste. Be careful with this drink—the bold lemon-lime flavor masks the taste of alcohol so well, it’s easy to forget that you’re sipping on a strong cocktail!
