Mint Julep #1

Drink Type: Cocktail

Ingredients

Instructions

In electric blender, blend on high for a few seconds, until leaves are reduced. Strain into silver tumbler packed with shaved ice, add more Bourbon whiskey to saturate the ice, garnish with a sprig of mint.

If you’re from the South, have ever attended the Kentucky Derby, or just love a good, classic drink, then you have probably tried or heard of a mint julep.

No one is really sure when the mint julep first came onto the scene. However, it is known when the drink was first seen in print.

In London in 1803, John Davis published a book that described a drink that used mint and a spirituous liquor. Unfortunately, bourbon wasn’t actually specified as the liquor, so it can only be speculated that what he was referring to was the mint julep.

It is known that the drink did originate in the South, and probably did so during the 18th Century. At that time, the drink was introduced by Senator Henry Clay to the Willard Hotel’s Round Robin Bar in Washington D.C.

Julep, a word derived from Persian gulab and Arabic julab, both of which mean rosewater, is a term that refers to a sweet drink that is usually used for medicinal purposes. The drink is traditionally served in a pewter or silver cup that should be held by either the edge or the bottom so that frost can form on the cup’s outside.

When creating a mint julep, just four traditional ingredients are needed: water, sugar, bourbon, and, of course, mint. Some feel that a sprig of mint should be used as a garnish, others enjoy using slightly bruised leaves, and others still use a muddling technique. The drink’s preparation is often debated, and the way you create the drink depends solely on your own taste.