Organic Mojito Syrup

Mojito syrup with mint and lime, without rum

The organic Mojito syrup from Bacanha is a French cocktail syrup made from mint and citrus, produced in a workshop near Paris. Cool, tart, herbal. It brings the Mojito into your glass without you having to muddle leaves or squeeze limes, and 400 ml makes about 20 glasses.

Mojito syrup is not a fruit or an herb, but a recipe, and is part of the Sirop Brut series from the Parisian manufacturer Bacanha. Mint and citrus are already perfectly balanced within it, so that syrup, ice, and soda water combine to make an alcohol-free Mojito. Add rum to make it the real thing.

Cool, tart, herbal

The difficulty with a Mojito is the balance. Too much mint tastes like toothpaste, too much lime is just sour, and there is a fine line between the two.

This syrup hits exactly that mark. It tastes fresh, zesty, and herbal, and both sides remain distinct instead of overpowering one another. The label lists organic cane sugar, water, natural mint aroma, natural citrus aroma, lime extract, and citric acid.

The lime extract is the difference between this and a simple mint syrup with lemon. It comes from the peel, not the juice, and provides that green bitterness that distinguishes a Mojito from a mint lemonade.

A Mojito without the mortar

3 centiliters of syrup, plenty of crushed ice, fill with soda water, and your alcohol-free Mojito is ready. If you want the real deal, add 4 centiliters of white rum.

A fresh mint leaf and a lime wedge on top never hurt, but they are not necessary, as both are already in the glass. Beyond the cocktail, it works well in iced tea, in a watermelon punch, over cucumber slices in a salad, and—because mint and chocolate go well together—in a mousse au chocolat.

If you prefer to mix it yourself, use the individual components. The organic mint syrup provides pure peppermint, and the organic lime syrup contains real lime juice, allowing you to determine the ratio yourself.

Tried for a long time until it was right

The syrups are mixed in Saint-Soupplets near Paris. With a recipe like this, development takes longer than for a single-flavor variety.

Because here, it's not just one aroma that has to be right, but the ratio of three. The aromas are created in Grasse, behind the Côte d'Azur, where France has been making its scents for centuries; the organic cane sugar comes from regenerative agriculture in Brazil. The name also originates from there, as "bacana" means beautiful and good in Brazilian Portuguese.

"Preserving the authenticity of the aromas," as the manufacturer describes its work, sounds contradictory at first for a cocktail recipe. But what is meant is the exact opposite of a shortcut: namely, refining the ratio until nothing tastes artificial anymore.

All varieties maintain the same balance of acidity and sugar, a pH value below 4.5, and about 60 degrees Brix. This pays off especially with the Mojito, because a syrup that is too sweet would overpower the lime. From the Bacanha range, we carry 25 varieties, from citrus to floral to spicy. Summer in a bottle.

Start alcohol-free on crushed ice

Going alcohol-free is the first step: 3 centiliters in a large glass with crushed ice and soda water. For a group of guests, prepare a carafe with one part syrup to 8 parts water, add lime slices and mint, and let it chill for half an hour. Once opened, the bottle should be kept in the refrigerator, where it will last for 2 months. You can find more varieties for your home bar in our syrup selection.

Organic control number FR-BIO-01 – French Agriculture