2 oz white, Spanish style rum (Real Havana Club from Cuba is the best)
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz white sugar simple syrup
8-12 mint leaves plus one sprig
The coldest, most highly carbonated soda water you can find.
Combine rum, juice, syrup and mint in a shaker tin. Add ice and shake very hard. Single-strain (with a hawthorne strainer) into a chilled collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with soda, and gently pull to incorporate. Garnish with remaining mint sprig.
A hard shake allows the ice to do the muddling work for you – straining out the mint leaves leaves behind the mint oil while preventing the leaves from going brown and turning the drink muddy.
