Mojito: a cocktail on the rise. Photo courtesy of Bacardi.
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KAREN HOCHMAN is Editorial Director of THE NIBBLE. She has no favorites; she likes all of the cocktails in this article.
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December 2009 |
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Purista Cocktail Mixers
Easy Cocktail Mixers Made By A Bartender
Created by a bartender for bartenders, Purista cocktail mixers are, as the name implies, pure—no artificial anything. Some people think that the Caipirinha, Margarita and Mojito are summer drinks; but most fans love them year-round. The sleek bottles make welcome gifts for cocktail lovers.
Overview
The best cocktail mixers seem to be made by bartenders, who then sell them to other bartenders. One of the benefits of using a mixer at a bar is to be able to deliver consistency of flavor to the customer time after time. When you have different shifts of bartenders, even if the freshest ingredients are used, one may squeeze that lime more lightly than the next, or add a bit more sugar.
Fresh fruit juice, organic sugar and filtered water are what goes into Purista cocktail mixers. Currently, the company specializes in the famous cocktails of the tropics:
- Caipirinha. Pronounced kai-puh-REE-nya, Brazil’s signature cocktail is made with cachaça (ca-SHA-sa), Brazil's most popular spirit. Cachaça is an intensely sweet spirit made from sugar cane; it is not a type of rum.
- Margarita. America’s most popular cocktail was invented by an American woman at her vacation home in Acapulco, Mexico (according to the prevailing story—read the history).
- Mojito. Pronounced mo-HEE-toe, the rum-based, mint-and-sugar delight from Cuba was allegedly first conceived by one of Francis Drake’s pirate buddies (read the Mojito history).
The Mojito was named “little magic” or “small spell.” The dictionary cites “mojo” as an Americanism evolved from the Gullah word for magic or voodoo. The Gullah, people of African ancestry who settled in the Sea Islands and coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia, and northern Florida. Their language that combined elements from several African languages. Mojo is believed to have come from the Fula language of the Cameroon, moco’o, witch doctor, medicine man or person who works magic. (Our word “yam” also comes from the Fula nyami. We like stirring and shaking, but muddling is not our thing.
Magic aside, the best thing about Mojito and Caipirinha mixes is no more muddling! We’re not magicians, and we’re not good muddlers, either.
Purista Cocktail Mixers
The handsome, modern bottles look elegant on a bar and make a nice gift presentation as well.
- With such pure and natural ingredients, the mixers also make good non-alcoholic drinks: Mix with club soda or unsweetened iced tea.
- Blackberry Mojito makes a great dessert sauce atop ice cream or frozen yogurt and to pool around pound cake.
Each 750ml bottle makes 17 six-ounce cocktails. There are recipes on the website.
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The Mojito mixers: Classic and Blackberry Mojito. Photo courtesy Purista. |
PURISTA
Cocktail Mixers
Buy online* at PuristaCocktails.com
See the website for retail locations.
*Prices and product availability are verified at publication but are subject to change. This item is offered by a third party and THE NIBBLE has no relationship with them. Purchase information is provided as a reader convenience
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 Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.
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