The twenty-second entry in the series where my wife Sabrina and I journey through the wide wonderful world of classic cocktails by crafting and drinking recipes together at our home bar. Today let’s explore the ice cold Southern concoction in a silver cup, the Mint Julep.
Recipe:
- 2 1/2 oz Buffalo Trace bourbon
- 1/3 oz Simple syrup
- 8–10 Fresh mint leaves
- Crushed Ice
- Garnish: Mint sprig
Give the mint leaves a soft slap in your palm to release the oils, and then add them and the simple syrup to a julep cup (or rocks glass if you don’t have a julep cup). Gently muddle the mint and syrup, being careful not to crush the mint. Add the bourbon and give it all a quick stir. Fill the glass halfway with crushed ice and stir until the outside of the cup frosts (if you’re using a metal julep cup, of course). Add more crushed ice to about 2/3 and stir until the cup is completely frosted. Top with more crushed ice to form a little dome over the rim. Give one more quick stir to integrate, and then garnish with a big bountiful mint bouquet. Add a straw.
Intro:
The Mint Julep is a Southern institution. The official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby since the 1930s. And just like me if I were to attend the Kentucky Derby, the Mint Julep is simple, yet dressed up real nice.
While the core beverage is just a few basic ingredients – bourbon, simple syrup, and mint – it’s the crushed ice that really makes the Mint Julep. Also that big ole’ canopy of mint garnish blossoming out of the mound of ice on top. Also that shiny silver cup covered in a beautiful cold frost.
With so much fanfare around the ice, the garnish, and cup, I’m almost tempted to label it the Southerner’s tiki drink. But I won’t, because I’m pretty sure it would get me a good ass-kickin by either a guy in a flowered shirt for insulting his Mai Tai or a fellow in a bowtie for shit-talking his julep. So I won’t, because I’m not here to stirrup* up any trouble.
Eesh, sorry for that bad horse pun, but in the spirit of the Kentucky Derby, I assure you there is plenty mare* where that came from!
The Mint Julep is a slow sipping, hot weather, celebratory day drink. Think big brimmed hats, armpit stains in button-up linen shirts, little buzzing LED-powered hand fans. Southern sunny hot ass weather. That’s what the Mint Julep is made for.
Booze Basics:
One of the mane* characteristics of a Mint Julep is that it evolves as you drink it. Because it uses crushed ice (or pebble ice for you fancy folks) instead of cubes, and lots of it, a steady, consistent dilution becomes key to the experience. Your first sip from the straw will be strong, boozy, and minty, but as the ice melts, each sip is going to get colder and mellower, with its alcohol bite softening until it has transformed into a dangerously easy drinker.
This, of course, assumes that you’re taking ‘er slow and easy when you drink, actually allowing the ice time to melt. If you don’t, you’re gonna find yourself pounding multiple cups very rapidly, slurping down the booze equivalent of a strong Old Fashioned each time, and soon you’ll be that fella in the pastel slacks face down in a field. No judgement – who hasn’t woken up with grass in their beard at some point, right? Consider this just a friendly heads up that the drink may go down like a softie, but it ain’t a softie.
Because it’s an ever-changing drink, the recipe needs to account for that. You’ll want to go with a good strong bourbon (90 proof or so) so that it hits peak flavor after the first couple sips. You don’t want it tasting perfect right out of the gate* or else it’s going to be flat and watery before you’re done with it.
Ice:
Let’s get a little more nerdy about the ice. As mentioned, crushed or pebble ice is key. Crushed ice is more traditional and, unless you have one of those badass pebble ice making machines on your kitchen counter, much more practical for the home bartender.
If you don’t already own a Lewis Bag, get yourself one. It’s a canvas bag that you fill with ice cubes, and then you bang away at it with a mallet, giving you crushed ice at your desired level of crush. It’s a good inexpensive investment, especially if you make Tiki drinks, which love them some crushed ice.
For the Mint Julep, you’ll want your ice crushed and kinda fluffy, but don’t pulverize it.
But why does it need to be crushed? Well, this drink wants to be very cold. Crushed ice covers more surface area than cubed, and it has more contact points with the liquid and the metal cup. Thus, when you stir, it rapidly chills the drink and pulls the heat from the cup’s metal, freezing the condensation that formed on the sides, leading to the all important frost. That frost is not only photogenic, but it insulates the drink, helping to keep the temperature stable*.
The crushed ice will also melt more rapidly than cubes, and importantly, it will melt more evenly so that the drink’s taste evolves pretty well according to plan. Also, those loose ice shards floating around thicken up the texture of the drink.
Mint:
Another critical point to consider is the mint garnish. Go big with this thing, grandiose like your rich drunk aunt’s Kentucky Derby hat. Make it a big green leafy awning, so that you get a face full of it when you lean it to sip on the straw. That strong blast of mint aroma is part of the experience.
I’ve seen recipes that don’t even include mint leaves in the actual drink itself. They just rub the inside of the cup with mint and then lean on the heavy garnish to do the real mint work.
Either way, lots of mint garnish. Don’t rein* it in.
And that Cup:
Finally, the julep cup. Traditionally a silver or pewter cup, but nowadays usually stainless steel, it serves more purpose than just looking cool and impressing your neigh*bors. The metal is a good temperature conductor, chilling the drink faster, and maintaining its cold longer. The frost that forms on the cup while you stir is not just for aesthetics either. It tells you that the drink has reached a proper cold temp and that dilution has begun. If you don’t see frost, you ain’t cold enough.
The metal julep cup serves a similar function as the metal Moscow Mule mug, but the julep cup became a thing for more historical and practical reasons. Not only did it keep the drink cold in those hot southern pre-air conditioning climes, but a nice silver/pewter drinking vessel was a symbol of wealth, and the wealthy were a good chunk of the Mint Julep drinking demographic back in the day. The Moscow Mule mug, on the other hand, was more of a marketing tool, introduced with the origin of the Mule as the way to drink a Mule.
If you don’t have a Mint Julep cup, a regular old rocks glass will suffice. But a frosty silver cup is part of the charm of the drink, so it might behoove* you to get yourself a couple that you can break out every May for the horse race.
Origin Story:
Unlike a lot of cocktails we’ve explored so far, the Mint Julep wasn’t “invented.” It’s the product of a gradual evolution, starting with the origin of the julep itself.
A julep wasn’t always a bourbon drink. In fact, it wasn’t always an alcoholic drink. The name traces back to arabic julab, which was a sweetened beverage made with rosewater. In the early days, it was simply a pleasant tasting liquid used to help make medicine go down easier.
In the early 1700s, primarily in the Southern U.S., they started putting booze in their juleps (rum and brandy at first) along with fresh herbs, especially mint. Mint was a popular choice since it grew easily in that part of the country. It also gave a nice cooling sensation that was especially welcomed in the southern heat in those days before they had easy access to ice. Juleps were still medicinal at that time, but of course, the addition of booze surely helped spread its appeal to other markets.
In the early 1800s, ice became available to wealthy folks, and juleps served with crushed ice became a symbol of good livin’. The silver/pewter cups began to pop up around this time too, because, well, rich people have nice stuff.
Bourbon started to show up in juleps in the mid-1800s, coinciding with the increase in bourbon production in Kentucky, adding that final component of our “modern” Mint Julep.
The Kentucky Derby has taken place on the first Saturday of May, every year at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky since 1875. Folks had been drinking Mint Juleps at the races for years, but in 1939, Churchill Downs named them the official cocktail of the Derby. These days, they serve over 120,000 on Derby weekend.
As always, for a far more thorough and accurate history on Mint Julep and juleps themselves, check out the work of seminal cocktail historian, David Wondrich.
Recipe Rationale:
Buffalo Trace bourbon: Buffalo Trace is my go-to bottle for cocktails that call for bourbon. Since bourbon is the only liquid in this drink (melted ice aside), you’ll want to use something decent or better. Also, something with a high proof (upwards of 90 or so) to keep it from diluting too quickly. Old Forrestor, Bulleit, Makers Mark show up in many of the recipes online.
Simple syrup: A good 1:1 mix of sugar and water is all you need. Here’s a simple recipe to make your own.
Mint: Fresh mint is key. And use lots of it. I cut off a spring of fresh mint from our little herb garden for the garnish, and I’m more proud of this than I really deserve to be.
Ice: Crushed, not cubes.
Verdict:
“Wow, that was strong. I’m a lightweight these days and can barely handle a weak bourbon drink. This was not a weak bourbon drink. Not at all.”
Sab
“Sab’s right. This was a strong ass drink, especially right at the beginning. As expected, it lightened up substantially as time went on, but could maybe still afford to lose .25 oz of bourbon or so. I wouldn’t do that, but others might. Anyway, it was good but admittedly the bourbon overpowered the mint. Not the most balanced recipe. I probably need to take a few more cracks at it. But I think I nailed the presentation. She’s a beauty, ain’t she?”
Bones
*Hay, I’m sorry for all the horse puns. I hope I didn’t push you pasture limit.
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