June Drink of the Month - The Mint Julep (and the Bourbon Trail)

I'll understand if there is any backlash over me making the Mint Julep my June Drink of the Month. Derby season was over a month ago, and with the Belmont Stakes this weekend, by all rights I should be constructing a Belmont Jewel (a mixture of bourbon, lemonade, and pomegranate juice). However, the Belmont Stakes loses points for their inability to get their act together on an official drink. Purists will recall the White Carnation, but there was also the Belmont Breeze for a period of time from 1997 to 2011, and this article even recalls a "Big Apple" from 1975. The Kentucky Derby has claimed the Mint Julep as their official drink since 1938, so I don't feel so bad breezing over Belmont's offerings (puns!).

I have good reason for selecting the Mint Julep (beyond shaming the folks at Belmont), and they are twofold: first, I'm currently reading the Updated and Revised edition of Imbibe by David Wondrich. This book goes back to one of the earliest bartending manuals ever written, recreating those recipes while also providing a good deal of drink and spirit history. The Julep is heavily featured, and I'll share some of the anecdotes below. The second reason is that I've just returned from a long weekend on the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky with my dad. His primary goal as we wandered was to try one of those Mint Juleps that he had heard so much about (he's a red wine man, and this was his first experience with bourbon). So in honor of David Wondrich and bartender Jerry Thomas who he so admires, as well as in tribute to my father, who bought his first bottle of bourbon the other day (Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select), we will be making Mint Juleps this month.

Before we get too deep in Julep history, however, permit me to share a brief account of our time on the trail. We made twelve stops in all (while also spending an afternoon hiking Mammoth Caves), averaging three distilleries a day (our high was four, and our low was two on Mammoth Caves day). Far and away the most visually pleasing of the distilleries was Woodford Reserve, and their tour was excellent. But we also enjoyed excellent tours at Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill, the Evan Williams Experience, Four Roses, and Buffalo Trace (we even went on a ghost tour at Buffalo Trace). We made all nine stops on the official Bourbon Trail, and also made a few stops along the emerging "Craft Trail." I tried many excellent and old bourbons (especially at Heaven Hill, where we took the Whiskey Connoisseur tour, which featured several select bottlings and an Elijah Craig 23 year), and also some less than excellent ones. I also got to see firsthand the Rye Renaissance, and bought a bottle of Willett 3 year rye, which was just released last Saturday - it is excellent, and has enough body and spice to sip on its own or mix up in a Manhattan. I only ended up buying two bottles (I'm on a budget, what with buying a house and all) - the aforementioned Willett rye and a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel. But the overall experience was wonderful, and I'm going to enjoy the heck out of those two new bottles (plus it was a great trip to catch up with my dad - that made the whole trip worthwhile on its own).

A Lewis Bag and muddler

Now on to the Julep, To hear David Wondrich tell it, the name "julep" might be someone's idea of a practical joke. The historical records of the word "julep" almost always refer to a medicinal compound. A combination of spirits with astringent herbs and plants, it was taken to ward off any number of ills. However, in America, the nasty tasting plants were replaced by spearmint and peppermint leaves, combined with sugar and water, and then imbibed early (as in breakfast-time early) and often. The introduction of ice into mainstream consumption is what made the Julep really take off. A combination of shaved ice and cubed (or lump) ice helps chill the drink and dilutes the liquor enough to make it a lovely slow-sipper. Most early juleps were made with brandy (or a combination of brandy, rum, and sherry) and were garnished with all all manner of fruit (especially oranges and fresh berries). Whiskey in those days was not quite as fine as our current product, and brandy was the liquor of choice for most Americans (except in the northeast, where they enjoyed their rum - and vile rum at that). The phylloxera outbreak in the late 19th century that severely depleted world brandy reserves is what eventually led to American products being featured in juleps, and of these, bourbon was king.

Below you will find a simple recipe for a bourbon Mint Julep. In honor of my dad, I'll suggest that you use Woodford Reserve if you like a little rye in your bourbon, or John E. Fitzgerald Larceny if you like your bourbon wheated. If you're a true gourmand, you can make your julep with a single barrel, but why waste the really good stuff in a mixed drink? A nice small batch will stand out very well in this drink:

Combine one tablespoon of superfine sugar* with one tablespoon of water in a glass.** Stir to dissolve the sugar and add three to five mint leaves. Press the mint with a muddler (gently, so as not to break the leaves) to extract the mint oils. Fill the glass half full with shaved and/or crushed ice (a Lewis bag is a handy tool here) and then fill the rest of the way with cubed ice. Top with three ounces of bourbon and stir** vigorously until a layer of frost forms on the outside of the glass. Garnish with a tall sprig of mint and top with ice*** as needed to fill the glass.

Now for the notes:

*Many will advocate using simple syrup here rather than stirring the sugar yourself. Perhaps if you are making this in a commercial kitchen, that would be fine, but if you are making this at home, ignore them - this just feels right. You may also see recipes calling for powdered sugar instead of superfine sugar. This is an anachronism, as our modern superfine sugar is a better analog to the "powdered" sugar of the early twentieth century than store-bought powdered sugar.

**If you wish to buy a fancy copper or silver plated "julep glass," be my guest. That's still a little rich for my blood, but you never know what could happen with wedding presents...

***You can make this drink in a Boston shaker and shake instead of stir. However, this can tear the mint leaves, so you will definitely want to double strain the drink before serving.

****You may also choose to strain the drink into a fresh glass of ice, but this tends to water the drink down too much.

I've also included the recipe from Wondrich's book for an older julep, attributed to bartender Joe Redding (edited down for brevity):

Combine 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of water in a deep tumbler, and add half shaved ice and half lump ice to fill. Add three mint leaves, and pour over one ounce "fine, unimpeachable cognac brandy," one ounce "fine old Jamaica rum," and one ounce "old ripe port wine." Pour the mixture back and forth between two glasses until it is good and mixed. Garnish with a tall sprig of mint and rub the rim of the glass with fresh lemon.

 As you can see, the above recipe looks nothing like a modern julep, but it is still dang tasty! Either way, I hope you enjoy your Mint Julep!