Cuban Guava and Lime Highball with Fresh Mint over Crushed Ice

Chill four highball glasses in the freezer for at least 15 minutes — crushed-ice drinks live or die on how cold the glass starts.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup guava nectar or strained fresh guava puree, chilled
• 6 ounces white rum
• 3 ounces fresh lime juice, from about 4 limes
• 2 ounces simple syrup, or to taste
• 1 large handful fresh mint leaves, plus 4 sprigs for garnish
• 12 ounces chilled club soda
• Crushed ice, to fill
• 4 lime wheels, for garnish
• Pinch of flaky salt (optional, sharpens the fruit)

Instructions

1. Chill four highball glasses in the freezer for at least 15 minutes — crushed-ice drinks live or die on how cold the glass starts.
2. Press the handful of mint leaves gently against the bottom of a cocktail shaker with the simple syrup, using a muddler just enough to release the oils. Bruising the leaves too hard turns them bitter and grassy.
3. Add the guava nectar, rum and lime juice to the shaker along with a few ice cubes.
4. Shake hard for 12 seconds, until the outside of the shaker frosts over.
5. Pack the chilled glasses to the top with crushed ice.
6. Double-strain the mixture over the ice, dividing it evenly among the four glasses, and add a tiny pinch of flaky salt to each if using.
7. Top each glass with 3 ounces of club soda and stir once with a bar spoon from the bottom up to lift the guava through the ice.
8. Slap a mint sprig once between your palms to wake up the aroma, then tuck it in beside a lime wheel on each glass and serve with a straw.
9. Guava — guayaba — grows all over Cuba and turns up in everything from pastelitos to preserves, so it was inevitable that it would find its way into the island's drinks alongside rum, lime and mint, the same trio at the heart of the mojito. This highball is essentially a mojito that took a detour through a fruit stand: the guava adds body and a floral tropical perfume that keeps the drink from tasting thin over crushed ice. For a version anyone can drink, leave out the rum entirely and add an extra splash of soda — it loses nothing.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 210 kcal
• Protein: 0g
• Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 24g
• Fiber: 1g
• Sugar: 21g
• Sodium: 25mg