I Christmas-tized my mojito drink recipe as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars. #SweetNLowStars

 I’ll never forget the first time I had a mojito. I was in my early twenties, living in Philadelphia, and a friend from North Carolina had come to visit me. I wanted to show off a bit, so I suggested we head down to a Cuban restaurant for drinks in Old City in order to show how cultured I was. Back then I wasn’t much of a drinker (my how things have changed), so I had no idea what kind of drink to order. The restaurant had no less than a million variations of the mojito, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with ordering one. I was right. What’s not to love about rum and fresh mint? Since that first mojito many years ago, I’ve had my fair share of the Cuban cocktail.

Now, I’m not only drinking mojitos, I’m making them! I like to drink seasonal cocktails, so I decided to Christmas-tize my beloved mojito with clementines. Now, I know a lot of folks think cranberries are the official fruit of the winter holiday season, but one must not forget the sweet little clementine. I mean seriously, have you ever gotten a handful of cranberries in your Christmas stocking? I doubt it! So, long live citrus fruit! Ho, ho, ho!

After lots of trial and error (hard job I’ve got here!), I came up with the absolute perfect Christmas cocktail. Not only does it have clementines and mint in it, but instead of sugar, I used Sweet’N Low to save on calories. I’m not the young twenty something that I was when I had my first boozy mint drink, so I can’t ingest all of the sugar that used to. Substituting Sweet’N Low is an easy way to cut out the calories without sacrificing the sweetness that I love in my drinks.

Okay, so I’m sharing my Clementine Mojito recipe, but just know that I’m claiming it to be signature cocktail. Hey, it’s been a long road trying to find something to rival Terrence’s famous Lemon Drop, but I love y’all so I’ll share! Want more cocktail recipes using Sweet’N Low? Check out the #SweetNLowStars hashtag on Twitter for more ideas, and like Sweet’N Low on Facebook.

Clementine Mojito

INGREDIENTS:

-1.5 fluid oz. rum

-6 whole mint leaves

-about 1/2 cup club soda

-1 Clementine

-1 packet or 1 tsp. of Sweet’N Low

-ice cubes

DIRECTIONS:

-Add the mint and 1/2 clementine to a cocktail shaker and muddle until thoroughly mixed.

-Pour 1 packet (or 1 tsp.) of Sweet’N Low into the shaker and add the other half of the clementine. Continue to muddle.

-Remove the clementine rind out of the shaker and then transfer the mint and juice mixture to a class.

– Fill up the glass with ice, then pour the rum over top of it.

-Pour club soda to fill the glass.

-Garnish with a clementine wedge.