![]() ![]() By proper manipulation of the spoon, the ingredients are circulated and blended until Nature, wishing to take a further hand and add another of its beautiful phenomena, encrusts the whole in a glistening coat of white frost. Then comes the important and delicate operation of frosting. Wipe the outside of the goblets dry and embellish copiously with mint. Fill the goblets with snowy ice, sprinkling in a small amount of sugar as you fill. Then pour elixir from decanter until the goblets are about one-fourth full. In each goblet, put a slightly heaping teaspoonful of granulated sugar, barely cover this with spring water and slightly bruise one mint leaf into this, leaving the spoon in the goblet. Make it fine as snow, keep it dry and do not allow to degenerate into slush. In a canvas bag, pound twice as much ice as you think you will need. An ancestral sugar bowl, a row of silver goblets, some spoons and some ice and you are ready to start. Go to the sideboard and select a decanter of Kentucky Bourbon, distilled by a master hand, mellowed with age yet still vigorous and inspiring. Gather the sweetest and tenderest shoots and gently carry them home. Follow the stream through its banks of green moss and wildflowers until it broadens and trickles through beds of a mint growing in aromatic profusion and waving softly in the summer breeze. In a consecrated vessel, dip up a little water at the source. Go to a spring where cool, crystal-clear water bubbles from under a bank of dew-washed ferns. So far as the mere mechanics of the operation are concerned, the procedure, stripped of its ceremonial embellishments, can be described as follows: It is a heritage of the old South, an emblem of hospitality and a vehicle in which noble minds can travel together upon the flower-strewn paths of a happy and congenial thought. It is a rite that must not be entrusted to a novice, a statistician nor a Yankee. It is a ceremony and must be performed by a gentleman possessing a true sense of the artistic, a deep reverence for the ingredients and a proper appreciation of the occasion. A mint julep is not the product of a formula. The preparation of the quintessence of gentlemanly beverages can only be described in like terms. He replied that it was a simple process consisting merely of whittling off the part that didn't look like an elephant. Barber found himself when asked how he was able to carve the image of an elephant from a block of wood. Your letter requesting my formula for mixing mint juleps leaves me in the same position in which Capt. "The Quintessence of Gentlemanly Beverages. And, of course, made with the finest Kentucky bourbon. He churns that mixture, then adds a lot of ice, more bourbon, a splash of water, a sprig of mint and a sprinkling of sugar on top.Ĭontroversy rages over the minutiae of a proper julep - chipped or shaved ice, crystalline or boiled sugar - but julep purists agree that a real mint julep must be served in a frosted silver julep glass. Willard bartender Jim Hewes still makes juleps based on Clay's recipe: "A teaspoon of sugar, six or eight red-stem mint leaves, and a small measure of bourbon," Hews says. In the 1850s, Clay brought his recipe to Washington's Willard Hotel. Henry Clay served juleps on his Kentucky plantation, and introduced Northerners to the beverage when he went to Washington. Like another Southern delicacy, Coca-Cola, the julep was concocted to mask the taste of medicine. I grew up with them," native Kentuckian Norma Taylor says with a smile. Most Southerners will admit that it's an acquired taste, at best, this mixture of bourbon, sugar, mint, and ice. The julep is the official toast to the winning horse, but fans at Derby parties tend to start long before the finish. ![]() ![]() Rarely seen the rest of the year, this potent concoction is the national drink for a few hours every first weekend in May. The mint julep is a tradition as old as the Kentucky Derby itself, as much a part of Derby tradition as bugles and roses. The First Saturday in May renews a Tradition. The Mint Julep by Robert Hess, Mixologist Stir rapidly with a spoon to frost the outside of the cup. Make one julep at a time by filling a julep cup with crushed ice, adding one tablespoon mint syrup and two ounces of Maker's Mark. Cool and place in a covered container with six or eight sprigs of fresh mint, then refrigerate overnight. Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water together for five minutes. The ingredients in a mint julep vary depending on the hand that serves them. ![]()
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