During these long, hot summer days, nothing feels quite so right as sitting down with a good book,  a chilled beverage at your side. We hand out suggestions about good books like candy, but I feel we’ve been lacking in the beverage department. To remedy that, today we have a recipe for the Mojito, courtesy of Hemingway & Bailey’s Bartending Guide to Great American Writers (illustrated by Edward Hemingway and Written by Mark Bailey).

Hemingway (Ernest, of course)  is associated with any number of cocktails, but perhaps none more so than the Mojito. The drink was invented at La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba, where Papa drank them, as  did Brigitte Bardot, Nat King Cole, Jimmy Durante, Erroll Flynn, and countless others. Enjoy!

Mojito

6 fresh mint sprigs
1 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
2 oz. light rum
Lime Wedge

Crush 5 mint sprigs into the bottom of a chilled highball glass. Pour in lime juice, simple syrup, and rum. Fill glass with crushed ice. Garnish with lime wedge and remaining mint sprig. Sometimes a splash of club soda is added, according to individual taste.