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Letter to the editor

Make me a . . . Mint Julep

By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published May 2, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [iStockphoto.com] Saturday around the paddock rail and countless TVs when people gather for the Kentucky Derby, julep glasses will frost and teary eyes mist at the sound of My Old Kentucky Home.

Of American drinks, only the mint julep has its own sporting event, city, state and song. Saturday around the paddock rail and countless TVs when people gather for the Kentucky Derby, julep glasses will frost and teary eyes mist at the sound of My Old Kentucky Home. Heady stuff for a one-day wonder - but then Secretariat's glorious mile and a quarter was less than two minutes.

HISTORY: The julep began in Persia as a non-alcoholic, sweet blend of rose and water. In early America, both North and South, it mixed with wines, rum or, in one stout-hearted recipe, Cognac, rum and Port. It is always served with crushed ice and frequently with mint. Virginians and other Southerners favored it as a refreshing morning eye-opener. Kentuckians claimed it to show off their fine whiskey and by 1938 the julep was the official drink of Churchill Downs.

TODAY: Too-serious drinkers find juleps cloying with hype and sugar. Yet foodie historians love a drink that (a) uses fresh herb; (b) requires a "muddler" to crush the mint leaves and release their essence; (c) calls for a special vessel, from silver to racetrack souvenir and (d) showcases a unique American beverage of fermented corn with fire, smoke and punch.

SECRETS: Simple recipes demand quality ingredients: Use good whiskey and fresh mint. Cheat on whiskey if you wish but not the mint; dried or jellied won't do. Only freshly crushed leaves give the fresh scent and peppery edge. Get a plant or three, use the leaves and stick the rest in a wet, shady patch of the yard for next year's Derby party.

Ways to mix whiskey, ice, mint and sugar are endless. This recipe, from Kentucky distiller Brown-Forman, won the approval of Robin Garr, Louisville's famous food and wine critic.

Mint Julep

Several fresh mint leaves, for drink and

garnish

1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar

Water

Crushed ice

2 1/2 ounces bourbon

Put a few fresh mint leaves in the bottom of a glass or julep cup with confectioners' sugar (not granulated sugar) and just enough water to dissolve the sugar. Muddle the mixture with a wooden spoon handle.

Fill glass with crushed ice. Add bourbon. Pack in more crushed ice, and garnish with several mint sprigs.

Insert a straw cut short enough that you have to put your nose in the mint to reach it. Sip slowly from the bottom.

Source: Brown-Forman

[Last modified May 1, 2007, 20:17:40]