Today, let’s kill two birds with one stone: we will get acquainted with another classic cocktail and open the season of summer drinks, which, in fact, never ended. The Mint Julep is possibly one of the first cocktails ever, with roots so ancient that even good old fashioned Old Fashion looks like a pithecanthrope compared to a dinosaur.
When mentioning this cocktail, you can even miss the word “mint” – the etymology of the word “julep” starts from the Arabic gulab (julab, a combination of two Arabic words: [jul] – rose, and [ab] – water), which literally translates as “rose water ”, and this, by the way, is a medieval dosage form. In Latin, rose water sounds like julapium. Today, rose water, as a cure for everything in the world and a cosmetic product, is produced in India.
The modern English word julep, meaning “mint alcoholic drink,” began to be used at least as early as 1787. Dripping deeper, it turns out that juleps began to cook that way at the end of the 1803th century somewhere in the southern states of the United States – in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina. The very first printed mention of the Mint Julep cocktail dates back to XNUMX: a certain John Davis in his work “Travels of four years and a half in the United States of America” writes about him as a mixture of a portion of alcohol with mint, which is tasted by the inhabitants of Virginia in in the morning (and they say that life is hard for us).
It is also worth noting that Davis does not mention the type of alcohol, it can be either rum, gin, brandy, or rye whiskey. Bourbon, which is now an indispensable component in the classic Mint Julep, supplanted competing eau de vie only by the middle of the XNUMXth century, at the peak, so to speak, of its popularity. The logical conclusion of Julep’s glorious move was the “sedentary lifestyle” in the glorious state of Kentucky, where mint was generously drowned in local corn whiskey (bourbon). Over time, the cocktail has become a symbol of the Kentucky derby.
The traditional Mint Julep is a blend of bourbon, sugar, water and mint. Mint, by the way, is not considered the key ingredient of the drink, unlike the super-popular Mojito (which, by the way, owes its appearance to the julep). Some gourmets prefer to use mint solely for aesthetic purposes, afraid to even crush it, so as not to spoil the refreshing mixture of spicy bourbon and sweetness. About other nuances later. Let’s start with the classic Mint Julep recipe.
Mint Julep
- 60 ml bourbon;
- 4 fresh sprigs of mint;
- 1 tsp powdered sugar;
- 2 tsp water.
In a tall highball glass, gently stir the mint, sugar, and water. Fill the glass with crushed ice, add the bourbon and gently stir the drink until the walls of the glass are covered with perspiration. Then top up with ice and garnish with a sprig of mint.
Traditionally, Mint Julep is prepared in a silver or pewter cup – julep cup. It allows you to accurately determine the readiness of the cocktail during mixing and maintains the desired temperature for a long time, prolonging the pleasure of drinking.
Nuances of Julep
Traditional silver julep cup
The first nuance is mint. As mentioned earlier, mint plays a secondary role in this cocktail, but still, bartenders and ibmaybers are divided into two opposing camps. Some prefer to make Julep minty by adding more fragrant leaves, steeping them in water, using mint syrups, etc. Others, on the contrary, only decorate the mint cocktail. For beginners, we advise choosing the middle option: tear off a dozen mint leaves and crush them a little with powdered sugar, and then add the prescribed amount of water and leave the glass alone for five minutes. Then the cocktail is prepared according to the standard scheme (the method of the blogger and imbayber Skomorokh).
The second nuance is ice. The whole essence of Julep is a very cold cocktail tending to zero temperature, with a minimum amount of melt water. Therefore, the ice should be as cold and dry as possible. Follow this.
The third nuance is a tube. Of course, the cocktail must be served with a straw, otherwise you can seriously damage your teeth. It is recommended to cut the tube in such a way that it makes the taster almost sink his nose into the mint bouquet that adorns the Mint Julep. The aroma and essential oils of mint have a calming effect, which, coupled with two ounces of bourbon, acts like a good handful of valerian 🙂
Julep ice cream
There are a lot of Juleps, but most of them are exotic drinks that require very rare components. If it is easy for you to find agave extract or matcha tea, then you can easily find recipes for exotic Juleps. We invite you to prepare a very original and simple dessert that will be a hit at any party.
Mint julep ice cream
- 480 ml of water;
- 240 g brown cane sugar (demerara);
- 1 cup mint leaves;
- 80 ml bourbon.
Put water on fire in a small saucepan and add sugar to it. Keep the saucepan over low to medium heat and stir the water until the sugar is completely dissolved. After, remove the syrup from the heat and add mint leaves to it. Mash the mint with a wooden spoon and let the syrup sit until it cools to room temperature (about 45 minutes). Strain the syrup and add the bourbon to it. Pour the cocktail into ice cream molds, which are placed in the freezer until completely frozen. Everything.
In general, Mint Julep can hardly be called a summer cocktail. Yes, it is very cold and refreshing, but take a few servings of strong bourbon per soul in the summer heat … However, after this procedure, you are unlikely to pay attention to the heat of the sun 🙂
Finally, keep the video recipe from my favorite channel (recipe with sugar syrup and lime juice):