Posts Tagged gluten free alcohol drinks

Little ol’ me is growing an herb garden. Well, I guess I should clarify; my herb garden is predominantly a mint garden. There are two basil plants thrown in for good measure, but mint is the front runner in the pack. Why? Well, I used to be a vodka kind of girl. In my single, partying days, it was shots of Absolut. Then, as I matured and grew into a responsible adult, it was Grey Goose mixed into various drinks. When I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, my vodka slurping world as I knew it was turned upside down. It was tough enough trying to figure out what food I could ingest, but what was safe to drink?

Rum is my new best friend. Please don’t e-mail me the Alcoholics Anonymous website. I do have actual real life friends, but rum is my new vodka. I’m specifically growing mint for my rum-based (gluten free!) Mojitos. Now, Mojitos are a bit tedious to make (there’s the picking of the mint leaves and the muddling of the mint leaves), but please, spare your backside and don’t buy the Bacardi Silver Mojito Drink (found in 12 oz longneck bottles, 12 oz slim-line cans, and 24 oz bottles). The pre-made Mojito Drink is a MALT flavored beverage. Malt is the evil red headed step-child of Barley (off limits to us with Celiac Disease). Just say no.

In my humble opinion, the Mojito is the perfect summer drink. It’s light, refreshing, and doesn’t knock you on your patuckus like most potato vodkas (I’ll save that dire story for another post).

As the dog days of summer start drooling down our necks, get your “herb garden” growing and treat yourself to a gluten free Mojito. Here’s the recipe (for a single serving):

Mint Mojitos

1 heaping tsp of crushed ice
10 mint leaves
1 tbsp sugar
Juice of 1/2 lime

Muddle the crushed ice, mint leaves, sugar, and lime juice in a tall, thin glass. (FYI, “muddling” is basically crushing the mint leaves in the bottom of the glass to release their oils. You can use an actual “muddler” or the back of a wooden spoon to crush the leaves.)

Add:
2 oz. Bacardi Light Rum
Ice cubes
Fill glass with club soda (lemon/lime flavored works great)
Garnish with mint leaves and slice of lime
Stir and enjoy!

Note – if you have issues drinking mint pulp, do not despair… After muddling the first four ingredients, just add the light rum, strain the drink into an ice filled glass, and then top off with club soda.

Tags: celiac, celiac blog, celiac disease, celiac sprue, coeliac, gluten free, gluten free alcohol drinks, gluten free beverages, gluten free blog, gluten free mojito