Mulling over what to get that friend who has absolutely everything for the bar? Betcha she doesn’t have the best mojito gear ever. ThisNexter Stephanie Lucianovic, writing for Bay Area Bites, hearts Chase & Co.’s mojito-making mojo, from their eco-friendly bamboo muddlers (no polyurethane finish to flake off and poison your coktailing guests!), super svelte glasses and chic pitchers. Those tubular glasses are also available in a gift set of four, cleverly packaged in a Cuban-style cigar box and sporting recipes for the ultimate minty rum refresher.

Sure, mojitos are a little out of season right now (unless you live in Miami or Los Angeles), but who doesn’t need a reminder of sun, fun and rum in the dark of winter? Besides, it truly is the gift that keeps giving; come summer,  your giftee will pull the set out and thank you months after the fact. Que bueno!

We prefer the term “complex.”

Bitters is a word encompassing a wide range of potent herbal liqueurs; the milder ones (like Campari) usually served as aperitifs whereas concentrated bitters are in combination with other boozes and mixers in cocktais. Among the ingredient-grade bitters, Angostura is the one you’re probably most familiar with.

Benjamin at All The Marmalade gets under the hood of bitters, and then shares his recipe for a modified mojito, or “mochito,” using Angostura bitters to temper the rampant sweetness of this sultry summer sipper.  

We just love us the mojitos. We love them so much, you can make them with vodka instead of rum, and cherries instead of mint, and we’ll still love them. Considering Martha (well, probably Martha’s minions) made the recipe, you know it’s destined for rockstar popularity among queer foodies everywhere. So if it’s good enough for Bloghungry, it’s so good enough for us.

Sure, cold beer is the cure for summer heat. But if you’re looking for something more sophisticated, nothing cools like a cucumber cocktail. Liquor Snob steals borrows this refreshing cocktail recipe from the New York Times. With lime and mint, it’s much like a mojito, the “it” drink of a few years back, but the cucumber gives it that extra “aaahhh.” Kind of like spa water. With booze.

The recipe calls for either vodka or gin (specifically Hendricks). If gin’s not your thing, pump up the cucumber power by making your own cucumber vodka infusion. What could be cooler?