Mojito Mint Syrup

The herb garden has been growing strong, but our mint plant is TAKING OVER. Mint is known to be a bit invasive, so it should not come as a real surprise. However, something needed to be done with this abundance of minty freshness...

Break out the mason jars, folks - we're canning! This recipe is SUPER simple.... but really delicious.

Mint Simple Syrup Ingredients:

• Fresh cut and washed mint leaves (keep on the branch)

• Granulated Sugar (white sugar)

• Water

You will need a sauce pan and stove to boil down the simple syrup, and a spoon to keep things stirring and test consistency.

I used 3 cups of water to 5 cups of sugar for my ratio, and ended up with 5 FULL 1/2 pint mason jars (8 oz.).

Put your water and sugar in the sauce pot, and bring it to a rolling boil. Toss in your mint leaves, but leave them on the branch if possible (way easier to fish them out later as I discovered...) OR use some cheese cloth and let the leaves float in the water inside the filtering fabric.

The leaves will lose their bright green color, and will almost look like collard greens (wilted). When the leaves get to that point, it is best to take them out. I swapped in new ones 2-3 times to enhance the flavor.

Let the mixture boil down, and reduce, until the water sticks to the spoon - it should run off it like regular maple syrup. This took approx. 30 min. in total.

Once you have the consistency you like (and your kitchen will smell like mint!) stop boiling, and pour into the jars to do a hot water bath for sealing the lids! The syrup will be tinted green just slightly. You can also keep it in the fridge for immediate use, if you'd rather not water bath and save for later.

These make great gifts and speeds up your mojito-making! A great use of all those mint leaves! You can also use this same method with other herbs or fruits (if you strain after) to have a variety of simple syrups!

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