Food Drinks
ANATOMY OF A CLASSIC COCKTAIL: THE MINT JULEP Before becoming the signature drink of the Kentucky Derby—and a sure sign of spring in the South— the classic concoction was a centuries-old medicinal elixir By Kevin Revolinski
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In the South, spring is julep season. Don’t wait for Derby Day to enjoy this refresher of a warmweather drink.
MINT JULEP
66 I N S I G H T April 22–28, 2022
dicinal properties of whiskey, it’s fair to say that the tipple is strong and perhaps an acquired taste for some. After all, early cocktails added sugar to liquor to ease it down, and today’s mint julep tempers bourbon with fresh mint muddled with sugar and water. At the Derby, the mint julep is served in a silver cup, a common sort of trophy at county fairs, its icy contents creating an attractive frost on the surface. And while the recipe at the Derby is precise, many variations exist. The Maryland version calls for rye or even gin or rum rather than bourbon. Some recipes add a half tablespoon or so of fresh lemon or lime juice. The “Kentucky-style” mint juleps of Louisville-born Tom Bullock, an influential black
bartender and author of the 1917 work “The Ideal Bartender,” were well known, even passing the lips of President Theodore Roosevelt. But in addition to the bourbon recipe, his bar guide includes recipes for Brandy, Pineapple, and Champagne Juleps, as well as the St. Louis-style Overall Julep, made with rye whiskey, gin, grenadine, and lime and lemon juices. But even if you stick to the now-standard ingredients, you’ll find disagreement on the preparation. Muddle the mint or just add a sprig for the aroma? Powdered sugar or syrup? It’s up to you! Kevin Revolinski is an avid traveler, craft beer enthusiast, and home-cooking fan. He's based in Madison, Wis.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP L: SHAUN MEINTJES/UNSPLASH; BRENT HOFACKER/ SHUTTERSTOCK; FOTOFAIRY777/SHUTTERSTOCK
Fresh mint he kentucky derby is is a must, almost upon us—the first for muddling Saturday of May—and that (or not) and means mint julep season garnishing. is on. While the julep has been the race’s official drink since 1938, the first race was run in 1875, and the Serve in a drink’s association with it began frosty silver cup, like sometime soon after. And the they do at drink itself goes back centuries the Derby, earlier. to keep the As the song goes, “A spoonful drink ice-cold from start to of sugar helps the medicine go finish. down.” The julep was first defined as a sweetened liquid used to cover up something less palatable that you wanted to get past your tongue, typically a nasty health aid. The word and concept originated with the Persian gulab, or rosewater (water infused with • 8 mint leaves rose petals), passing through • 2 ounces Arabic, then Latin, and into the bourbon Romance languages. Middle • 2 sugar cubes English picked it up in the 1600s or 1 teaspoon as something like iulep. powdered sugar (or 1/2 The earliest print mention of a ounce simple julep as a mint and liquor (rum syrup) or brandy) health elixir was in • Crushed ice Virginia in the early 1800s. It was • Mint sprigs described as a medicinal drink for garnish used by farmers to ease stomach problems. But many historians Muddle the contend that it was a drink of mint leaves high society taken at breakfast. at the bottom of Much like the sazerac, previousa silver cup or a rocks glass with ly written up here, the original mint julep called for Cognac. That the sugar and a recipe sent barkeeps and drinkers bit of water. Add crushed ice to in search of an alternative when the top and pour Cognac became scarce during in the whiskey. an outbreak of phylloxera—an Stir until the cup insect that destroys grapevine surface turns roots—in France in the late 19th frosty, then century. Those living in Kengarnish with tucky, being home to bourbon, mint sprigs and serve. made the obvious replacement. While some may debate the me-
