I’m a sucker for some things.

When I was a child my parents would, on occasion, buy a bucket of frozen strawberry daiquiri mix.  When I recently asked my father about what came in the bucket (and what you had to add to it) he couldn’t remember – all he remembered was buying frozen strawberries and whizzing them up in the blender.  But I have very clear memories of being in a hotel south of the border during New Years and being allowed to scrape some of the frozen daiquiri out of the bucket.  Very classy.

I have stated in past posts that I have a soft spot for Mojitos.  I even grew my own mint this summer so I could muddle my beverage of choice on occasion.  A couple of weeks ago, as I was stumbling my way through Target, I saw this:

That’s right folks – they’ve managed to make my favorite drink into a bucket beverage.  So much more sophisticated than the bucket of daiquiri

So I deliberated for about 5 seconds and then added the bucket to the basket.  There was no way I was going home without it! I was even going through duty-free on the way home, so a bottle of rum was in my sights.

Inside the bucket is a pouch of … sugar?  I think it was mostly sugar.  There was another pouch of a lime-green liquid.  Flavouring and coloring.  Doesn’t look to inspiring.  You pour these pouches into the bucket, add rum and water, stir to dissolve all of the sugar, top on and into the freezer for 8 hours (overnight).  I checked mine after 16 hours or so – and the center was still liquid.

Then you need to scrape – though I think I used more rum than the parents used to – because this remained pretty slushy. And into a fancy glass to serve …. umm.. or a simple glass.

It sure is a frozen beverage.  How does it taste you wonder?  Honestly, not all that different from the strawberry daiquiri I remember… which is concerning.  If they hadn’t called it a Mojito, I may have thought “well, this isn’t terrible for a cool drink I can keep in my freezer and enjoy on occasion”.  That is to say – it wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.  But it isn’t a Mojito.  The beauty of the Mojito is that it’s refreshing.  It’s also fresh.  Mint leaves muddled gently with fresh lime juice.  A sweetener, a splash of rum and some soda water poured into a tall glass full of crushed ice.

The stuff in a bucket is a little sweet… OK, it’s a lot sweet.  Do yourself a favour – make your own.  I’m telling you - you’ll enjoy it so much more.  Don’t be a sucker – leave that to me.