A Citrus Mint Highball Starts With the List

Mint and lime make an appealing photograph. They do not tell you how much base, soda or syrup the glass needs. Ritual Zero Proof’s published non-alcoholic Mojito supplies a more useful starting list, whether or not you ultimately choose that drink.

Put the liquids on the list first

For one glass, Ritual lists 2 fl oz Rum Alternative, 4 fl oz soda water and 1/2 fl oz simple syrup. Those are three distinct purchases or pantry checks, not a single “mocktail base.” Six source-size glasses would call for 12 fl oz base, 24 fl oz soda water and 3 fl oz syrup. The source describes separate glasses; it does not provide a pitcher method.

Keep the fresh ingredients in their own column

The same published serve lists fresh mint and 2–3 limes, with a lime wedge or mint sprig as garnish. Its method also calls for 6–8 mint leaves in the glass. The source gives whole limes rather than a measured lime-juice yield, so do not convert the fruit into invented fluid ounces. Check what you already have before buying a large herb bunch for one drink.

Decide whether the specialty bottle earns a place

Ritual’s recipe uses a named Rum Alternative. A soda-and-citrus drink without it may be a separate choice, but it is not the same documented recipe. If the bottle is new to you, identify another published use before buying it; if you do not want one, choose a different source-backed glass with a shorter basket.

Shopping for six separate glasses

For a group, scale the measured liquids separately and leave the whole-fruit and herb quantities as a shopping range to check against the source. Buy the soda in a format you can keep cold and open close to serving; the recipe’s method adds it after the base and ice. A multiplied shopping list does not establish how a pre-mixed pitcher would behave.

The photograph is illustrative. Use the named ingredient list and method, not the color of a glass in a photograph, to decide whether this is the drink you want to make.

Turn the recipe into a list

Copy the named recipe into four lines—base, soda, syrup and fresh ingredients—then mark what you own. The prettiest component of the photograph should not be the only component of the shopping list.

• 2 fl oz base, 4 fl oz soda and 1/2 fl oz syrup for each published glass
• Fresh mint and whole limes without an invented juice conversion
• Ice and a glass for the source method
• Another documented use if the Rum Alternative is a new purchase