Close-up of a lime wedge submerged in pale green sparkling liquid, with a bubble-covered mint leaf pressed against the glass at the top right

Virgin Mojito Recipe: Lime, Mint, Sugar, Soda (and the Can That Skips the Muddler)

September 7, 2026

By Jason LaValla, founder, Casamara Club · September 2026

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The Recipe
Ingredient Notes
The Muddling
Pitcher for Eight
Common Mistakes
Three Variations
How to Serve It
The Can That Skips the Muddler
FAQ

A mojito is four things: lime, mint, sugar, and soda. Rum is the fifth, and we find it the least assertive thing in the glass, which is why a virgin mojito sits so close to the original when the other four are handled with care. Here is the recipe, the pitcher for eight, the mistakes that turn mint bitter, and the can we built so nobody has to muddle.

The short answer: For one virgin mojito, press 8 to 10 fresh mint leaves with 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1 ounce of fresh lime juice in a highball, fill the glass with crushed ice, top with 4 to 5 ounces of cold soda water, and stir once from the bottom. Garnish with a lime wheel and a mint sprig.

The Recipe

One drink, five minutes, a sturdy glass.

Virgin Mojito (single serve)

8 to 10 fresh mint leaves, spearmint if you can get it
1 oz (2 tablespoons) fresh lime juice, about one lime
2 teaspoons granulated cane sugar, or ½ oz simple syrup
4 to 5 oz soda water, cold
Crushed ice
Lime wheel and a mint sprig, to garnish

Put the mint leaves, sugar, and lime juice in a highball glass.
Press the mint gently with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon, a few turns, until you smell it. Do not grind.
Stir until the sugar dissolves in the lime juice. Sugar dissolves slowly once the ice goes in.
Fill the glass with crushed ice.
Top with soda water and stir once, lifting from the bottom.
Garnish with a lime wheel and a sprig of mint. Serve with a straw.

The measures follow the International Bartenders Association mojito (20 ml lime juice, 2 teaspoons white cane sugar, 6 mint sprigs, soda water), rum left out and lime rounded up to a full ounce so the drink keeps its shape.

Ingredient Notes

Four ingredients, so each one does a quarter of the work.

Mint. Spearmint is the everyday mojito leaf: sweet, soft, green. The Cuban original is hierbabuena, a close cousin most of us cannot buy. Peppermint is colder and stronger, with more menthol, and makes a sharper drink. Either makes a mojito; they are different drinks. Buy leaves that stand up. More on peppermint in our Botanical Index.

Sugar. Granulated cane sugar is the classic, and what the IBA recipe calls for; we find its grain gives the mint something to press against. To skip the stirring, ½ oz of 1:1 simple syrup dissolves instantly. Demerara adds a light molasses note and a rounder finish; it is what we use in the can.

Lime. Fresh, squeezed that day. Bottled juice reads flat and faintly bitter, and in a four-ingredient drink it is the first thing you taste. The peel carries the aromatic oil; that is what the wheel on the rim is for. More on lime in the Botanical Index.

Soda. Plain sparkling water, cold, freshly opened. Lemon-lime soda makes a sweeter drink; cut the sugar if you use it.

Ice. Crushed or pebble ice chills fast and dilutes a little, which a mojito wants.

The Muddling

Muddling means pressing. Shredding is the mistake, and most bad mojitos went wrong right here.

Mint oil sits in small glands on the surface of the leaf, and a gentle press releases it. Grinding tears the leaf and pulls out chlorophyll and bitter compounds: the drink tastes grassy, looks murky, and leaves green confetti in your teeth. Press until you can smell mint from a foot away, then stop.

Dissolve the sugar in the lime before the ice, or you get sludge at the bottom and a sour drink on top. Add the soda last so it stays lively.

No muddler? A wooden spoon or a rolling pin works. Or shake the mint, sugar, and lime in a sealed jar for ten seconds and strain the base over ice.

Pitcher for Eight

Build the base ahead; add the ice and soda at the table.

Virgin Mojito Pitcher (serves 8)

2 large bunches fresh mint, about 80 leaves, plus sprigs to garnish
8 oz (1 cup) fresh lime juice, about 8 limes
⅓ cup granulated cane sugar, or 4 oz simple syrup
1 liter soda water, cold, plus more to taste
Ice, added at service
2 limes, cut into wheels

In a pitcher, press the mint with the sugar and lime juice, in two batches.
Stir until the sugar dissolves. Cover and refrigerate up to a day.
If the base has sat more than a few hours, strain out the leaves; they darken and turn bitter.
Add the lime wheels and fill the pitcher with ice.
Pour in the soda and stir once from the bottom. Taste; add soda if it is too strong.
Serve over crushed ice in highballs with a fresh sprig in each.

Common Mistakes

Seven ways it goes wrong.

Over-muddling. Bitter, grassy, murky. Press, do not grind.
Too much sugar. We think a mojito should finish tart.
Bottled lime juice. Squeeze a lime.
Warm or flat soda. Open a cold bottle as you pour.
Sugar added after the ice. It barely dissolves.
Muddling in a thin glass. They crack.
No mint garnish. Much of what you taste is what you smell. Slap the sprig against your palm to wake the oil.

Three Variations

Same build, one addition pressed with the mint.

Strawberry: press two hulled, halved strawberries with the mint; we cut the sugar to 1½ teaspoons.
Cucumber: press three thin slices with the mint, and add two more as garnish.
Ginger: press a coin of peeled fresh ginger with the mint, or swap half the soda for ginger beer; we cut the sugar to 1 teaspoon.

How to Serve It

Cold, in a highball, over crushed ice, with a lime wheel and a mint sprig.

Serve it the moment the soda goes in, with a straw, since the lime and mint sit at the bottom. Our house serving method covers glassware, ice, and the pour; more builds are on the recipes page.

The Can That Skips the Muddler

Superclasico Mojito is ours: a non-alcoholic mojito made simply from Demerara cane sugar, peppermint, and lime, in 8oz cans, coming soon.

Superclasico Mojito is sparkling water, lime juice, Demerara cane sugar, and extracts of peppermint and lime peel. Against the recipe above: lime twice, juice and peel; peppermint, so it drinks colder and sharper than spearmint; demerara, which rounds the finish. The line on the can is "Throw Away Your Muddler". 55 calories and 14g of sugar per 8oz can.

For mixed company, the build from the product page: "Start with rum and ice at the bottom of a highball. Pour the Mojito down the wall of the glass, not directly over the ice. Superclasico comes in 8oz cans only, and they will do just fine. No muddler, no mint syrup. A lime wheel is enough. Add rum if you like." One can per glass; rum is decided per person.

Coming soon, sold online in 12-can packs and up. Tap Notify Me on the product page and we will tell you the day it is available. For how it compares with the other ways to put a mojito on the table, see our virgin mojito guide.

Coming soon

Superclasico Mojito

Throw Away Your Muddler

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Get notified when it's available →

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a virgin mojito called?

A: Usually a nojito. Mock mojito and mojito mocktail mean the same drink: lime, mint, sugar, and soda, no spirit.

Q: Can you make a virgin mojito without a muddler?

A: Yes. Use the back of a wooden spoon, or shake the mint, sugar, and lime in a sealed jar for ten seconds and strain it over ice. Or open a can of Superclasico Mojito, built so nobody has to muddle.

Q: How much sugar is in a mojito versus a virgin mojito?

A: About the same; the sugar comes from the sweetener. Two teaspoons of granulated sugar is roughly 8g; a bar mojito made with ¾ to 1 oz of simple syrup runs roughly 12 to 18g. Rum adds roughly 100 calories per 1½ oz pour and no sugar. Superclasico Mojito: 14g sugar, 55 calories per 8oz can.

Q: Which mint is best for a mojito?

A: Spearmint is the usual leaf, softer and sweeter; the Cuban original, hierbabuena, is a close cousin. Peppermint is stronger and colder; it is the mint in our can. Either is right.

Q: Can you make a virgin mojito ahead of time?

A: The base, yes: press the mint with the sugar and lime, cover, and refrigerate up to a day, straining out the leaves after a few hours. Add ice and soda when you serve, or the drink goes flat and watery.

Q: Is a virgin mojito kid-friendly?

A: It is a soft drink: lime, mint, sugar, and sparkling water. In our experience kids like it with a little less mint and a straw. Make the pitcher; adults add rum to their own glass.

Sources

International Bartenders Association, "Mojito" (official recipe): iba-world.com/iba-cocktail/mojito
USDA FoodData Central: granulated sugar (about 4.2g per teaspoon); distilled spirits, 80 proof (about 97 calories per 1.5 fl oz): fdc.nal.usda.gov
Difford's Guide, "Mojito Cocktail" (crushed ice, Collins glass, mint-sprig garnish) and "Mojito Cocktail History" (hierbabuena as the Cuban mint): diffordsguide.com
Chowhound, "The Specific Mint Variety That's Commonly Found in Mojitos" (spearmint vs. hierbabuena) and "To Muddle or Not Muddle Your Mint" (over-muddling releases bitter chlorophyll): chowhound.com
Turner, Gershenzon & Croteau, "Distribution of Peltate Glandular Trichomes on Developing Leaves of Peppermint," Plant Physiology 124 (2000): mint oil is stored in surface glands: academic.oup.com