 Mojitos Number 7: Cork & Cap
(by Marian Pontz)
On a busy, hot Saturday evening, with groups of wedding revelers and post golfing tournament participants ,I pushed through and stepped up to the Cork and Cap bar. As the bartender approached, I said “I wish to enjoy your best mojito.” He turned to his co-worker and shared my request, explaining, “I really don’t have much experience making them, and so I am asking Ron to show you our best work.”
Earlier in the day I had been speaking to a bar manager in a Lancaster eatery and told him I was going to the Cork and Cap that evening to review their mojito. He sighed and said I would love it, “Small glass, but sugar cane in the drink — special stuff.”
That night, I watched Ron properly muddle the mint, carefully combine the simple syrup, add the lime, generously douse with Bacardi rum (he did offer me rum of choice), and then top with seltzer, no sugar cane though. Honestly, at first I was a little disappointed. Sugar cane does nothing for the taste, but visually it adds panache. Ron was proud of his work. He waited for my initial response, and sugar cane or not a smile escaped me and my words of appreciation reached Ron. He said he would make them all night long for me. I hate to disappoint, but I am a one-drink woman — more than one and I would be asleep before I got to enjoy the meal or my charming dining companion.
That night amongst the crowds, with the clatter of many excited visitors, Ron gave me the gift of a mojito near-perfection, sugar cane or not. Four and a half dancing girls.
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