What is Mint?

Mint in cocktails is the fresh aerial parts of Mentha species, most often spearmint. The aromatic compounds live in glandular trichomes on the leaves; gentle bruising releases them. Aggressive muddling ruptures chlorophyll-rich tissue and stems, extracting bitterness and turning the drink murky.

Mojitos, juleps, and smashes want a substantial quantity of mint, treated as an herb rather than as a puree. Dried mint lacks the volatile fraction that makes the fresh herb worth using.

Menthol and related monoterpenes, green leaf, a little sweetness. Spearmint is the usual cocktail mint (higher carvone, gentler than peppermint’s menthol punch). Wilted or blackened leaves taste of the crisper drawer and contribute chlorophyll bitterness if shredded.

The mint julep — spirit, sugar, mint, ice — is among the older American mixed drinks, associated with the 18th- and 19th-century South. The Mojito is the rum highball analogue: rum, lime, sugar, mint, soda, with Cuban and earlier origins debated. Both drinks are older than the restaurant Mojito that tastes of lime cordial and shredded leaf.

The smash is a related 19th-century family: spirit, sugar, mint, seasonal fruit, ice.

Use fresh bunches. Clap a sprig between the palms or press the leaves lightly in the glass to release oils; do not pulverize stems into the drink. Garnish with a bouquet large enough to smell before the sip.

Do not use dried mint. Discard leaves that have blackened. In a Mojito, mint works with lime and rum; in a julep, with whiskey, sugar, and crushed ice.