BATCH RHUBARB MOJITOS

4 ½ cups rhubarb syrup (recipe below)

3 ½ cups white rum

1 cup loosely packed mint leaves, 

 plus more for garnish

5 cups club soda

1 ½ cups lime juice

16 lime wedges for garnish

Combine rhubarb syrup and rum in a gallon container, cover and shake to combine. Right before serving, add mint leaves, club soda and lime wedges. Pour over ice and sip some Spring!

Rhubarb Syrup

Makes approximately 3 cups of syrup 

9 cups chopped rhubarb (about 9 large stalks)

The zest and juice of 3 limes 

 (juice reserved for later)

3 cups sugar

3 cups water

Combine rhubarb, sugar and water in a saucepan. Zest the limes over this mixture in the saucepan so that you don’t leave out any of the lime oil while zesting. Bring this mixture to a big boil, then turn heat down to a simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes until the syrup is a bit thick. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large glass measuring container. (This straining will take a bit! Ladle a cup or two of pulp into sieve with a wooden spoon until all liquid is gone. Start process again, emptying pulp into another container so liquid can get through the mesh. Breathe deeply and take these minutes to CHILL.) There will be approximately 5 cups of rhubarb syrup and 2 ½ cups of rhubarb pulp. Serves 20 (in a 10-ounce rocks glass filled halfway with ice).