grilled pineapple mojitos ~

A summer evening with low humidity, a slight breeze and no bitey bugs? Over the July 4th holiday weekend?? IN THE SOUTH??? Alert the media, and this calls for a special cocktail!!

It’s the Sunday evening tail end of the July 4th holiday weekend ~ one of my fave holidays in the year ~ and we enjoyed some unexpectedly nice weather ~ with a new cocktail concoction to stretch the weekend moment as long as possible. Can we skip Monday and go straight to Tuesday please?

For years and years my family had the two day cookout and barbecue blow-out shindig. There were lots of friends and family on the patio, around the pool and on the back screened porch. There was the annual collecting of college football predictions and $1 pool bets, plenty of stories and laughter, and food, food, food. Things are quieter now, and I stayed in town this year. We enjoyed some crowd-free (pleasant surprise!) shopping and scored some major bargains.

While Bluwaterguy was on grill duty, we added some fresh pineapple to the platter. I LOVE fresh grilled pineapple. It’s one of the first things I wrote about here on the blog nearly 5 years ago, and the Grilled Pineapple Salsa recipe is still a good one ~ but please overlook the early photography. I’ve improved since then 🙂 Anyway, here’s a new way to use a fave.

This drink is a nice change-up on occasion. Of course I also LOVE my Classic Mojito, and drink it all summer long ~ unless I’m enjoying a Dark and Stormy or an Original Boat Drink. With mint growing like crazy in the patio pots, it ’tis the season. We had a new bottle of Blue Chair Bay white rum in the bar, and so the occasion seemed right. Of course you can use whatever white rum you prefer. I go with the standard Bacardi white in traditional mojitos, but this drink is a twist on the traditional, so I went with a new rum and like the result.

Hope you have some perfect summer evenings ~ make that LOTS of perfect summer evenings ~ and give this drink a try. As much as I LOVE fresh grilled pineapple, I see many of these in my future this summer. At least as long as the mint holds up. Here’s to summer, 4f holiday weekends and the things we love ~ family, friends, food and fun ~~~Bluwatergal

Grilled Pineapple Mojito
1.5 oz Blue Chair Bay White Rum
1 oz simple syrup
1/2 ring grilled pineapple cut into chunks
8-10 mint leaves
2.5 oz club soda
1 lime wheel ~ halved for juice & garnish

Muddle the pineapple, mint and syrup ~ add rum & stir
{Always muddle in a metal cup or cocktail shaker ~ never glass}
Pour into Highball glass with ice
Top with club soda
Squeeze halved lime wheel into drink & float on top for garnish
Stir slightly
Cheers y’all ~~~

This is a light, slightly sweet concoction ~ perfect for a special summer evening. If you like southern sweet tea, you will like this drink! Bluwaterguy brushed the pineapple with a tiny bit of simple syrup before grilling to amp up the caramelization. If you do the same, you may want to adjust the simple syrup amount in the drink to get your preferred level of sweetness. The muddled ingredients look like a lot in the glass (especially when stirred up as they are in the photo) but they quickly settle down, and if you cut them back much it may end up just tasting like club soda and alcohol. Do squeeze the lime in the top of the drink. That bit of tart on top of the sweet is perfect. It’s the bartender’s prerogative to taste and tweak as needed 🙂 Clink, clink ~~~