Make Philz Coffee Mint Mojito at Home with a Moka Pot
Philz Coffee. If you know, you know. If you don’t, I’m here to enlighten you!
Let me summarize Philz Coffee for you—
You won’t find espresso here. Only drip coffee. Not pour-overs, drip coffee. They’re famous for their “mint mojito” drink which, thankfully, has no alcohol! They keep it halal!
Whilst doing research for this recipe and post, I came across another drink of theirs called the Iced Coffee Rosé which also contains no alcohol. I’m not sure where this tendency of referencing alcoholic drinks comes from but, considering one of my best friends is addicted to Philz Coffee, it doesn’t seem to deter Halal-Dieters!
I too have tried the Mint Mojito drink and, as a mint lover, I really enjoyed it! As their website describes, the drink was indeed sweet and creamy and contained fresh mint. I was turned off by the massive amount of mint leaves at the bottom of the cup (maybe because I wanted more drink and less leaves?) but it also did its part in convincing me of their use of fresh ingredients. Nice touch, Philz.
Okay enough rambling—let’s get into this. Let me first tell you how Philz Coffee makes their Mint Mojito drink (as far as I can tell):
drip coffee
mint leaves, muddled with raw brown sugar
a splash of heavy cream and some ice
high-pours to mix, aerate and froth up the drink
I don’t have a drip coffee machine, nor do I really want one. I do, however, have two moka pots and REALLY love them for espresso-type drinks. No, they are NOT espresso makers, but they’re close enough for me to enjoy at home. If you’re into coffee and making coffee for yourself at home, I highly recommend getting one. Or two (depending on serving size). Moka pots are what I use to make my at-home cappuccinos and, now, Philz Coffee Mint Mojitos. Or should I say…
Leenz Coffee.
Okay, I have a couple different methods on this. Two ways to achieve the “minty” and two ways to achieve the “creamy” depending on your preference and the tools you have.
The base is the same no matter what the method...3-4 oz. concentrated coffee
If you do not want leaves at the bottom of your drink and/or are interested in making one part of this recipe in bulk so that you can make yourself some mint mojito coffee a few days a week, I recommend using my mint-milk method (my personal favorite):
Mint-Milk Method (from my mint hot chocolate recipe)
1 cup of milk (250mL)
10g of mint (≈1/4 cup, packed)
Heat the milk in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the mint leaves and stir.
Bring to an almost boil and then turn off the heat. Cover and let steep for 20 minutes. You can make this in bulk, if you’d like, and store it in the fridge for mint mojitos later in the week!
Pour this INTO the coffee-with-sugar and ice.
If you want the leaves at the bottom and want to do it the Philz way, this one’s for you:
Muddled Mint Method (how philz does it)
10g of mint (≈1/4 cup, packed)
1 tsp sugar (or to taste)
Put the mint in a stone/Pyrex bowl or a mortar. Pour the sugar over top.
Use a pestle or the back of a thick wooden spoon to smush, crush, press the mint leaves so as to release the flavor and aroma without breaking them apart to smithereens (7:44 in the video).
Transfer to the mug/cup you’re serving in, and pour the concentrated coffee over top of the muddled mint + sugar. Then move on to the next step (your milk).
Now for the creamy factor.
If you have a french press, I highly recommend you froth your milk in there. It yields the smoothest foam without having an actual milk steamer. As for those handheld mechanical stick frother things, I do not recommend those.
If you went with the mint-milk method, go ahead and froth that milk in the french press as shown in the video. If you went with the muddled mint method, you’ll froth the milk of your choice in the french press!
Alternatively, you can pour whichever milk you’re using into an airtight-sealable jar and shake, shake shake until frothy. This method probably won’t yield the creamiest result and will definitely give you big air bubbles. After shaking, you can open the jar and tap the bottom of it on a counter lightly to see if you can pop some bubbles that way (the way baristas tap their pitchers on the counter before busting out their latte art). Or just let it sit and wait for some of the bubbles to go down. Or maybe don’t shake as vigorously as I did. Or maybe, just maybe…GET A FRENCH PRESS!