Mint Julep
- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 12 to 15fresh mint leaves, plus one sprig for garnish
- 1ounce simple syrup (or peach-flavored syrup)
- 2½ounces bourbon
- Superfine sugar (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)
259 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 22 grams sugars; 0 grams protein; 17 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Place mint and ¼ ounce simple syrup in julep cup or 8- to 10-ounce old-fashioned glass and gently crush leaves with a wooden muddler, working them up sides of glass.
- Step 2
Loosely pack glass with finely crushed ice, then add bourbon. Drizzle remaining simple syrup on top and garnish with mint sprig lightly dusted with sugar, if desired.
Private Notes
Comments
While this fine for the day of, my grand father made his juleps a year in advance by combining the mint and simple syrup with the bourbon for about 7 days in a stock pot. Drained through coffee filters back into the bottles and left to mellow until next Derby Day the result is nothing short of heavenly. Cheers everyone!
If you make a simple syrup (as we prefer to) make it a day ahead of time and soak your mint leaves in it while it is still warm and keep them there until ready for use. Skip the peach.
I grew up in Kentucky, and to paraphrase the recipe in my 1958 "Kentucky Cooking New and Old" cookbook by the Colonelettes, you muddle a bit of powdered sugar, 1 mint leaf, and a small glug of bourbon in the bottom of your ancestral silver julep cup. Fill the cup with crushed ice, then bourbon to the top, garnish with a mint leaf for aroma, and sip. Unmatched.
I have made many mint juleps as my wife and I had a KYentucky Derby party for 22 years. The ice - The best ice (and the type used at Churchill Downs) is shaved ice. We used to get it at a grocery with a fresh fish counter (we went to Whole Foods). The fishmonger was always glad to give us an ice chest of the shaved ice.
The mint - the drink should be finished with MORE than one mint sprig. Several are needed! and they should rise above the edge of the glass by 3-4 inches. The mint should be sufficiently abundant that the imbiber is required to bury their nose into the mint sprigs in order to sip the julep! And a small straw is also needed so that the drink is drunk from the bottom of the glass.
We hosted 20 people for a Kentucky Derby Party. Not wanting to be chained to the bar muddling mint all night, I did two things the day before the party. First I made my simple syrup with a few sprigs of mint in them. Then I put about 3 packed cups of mint leaves in my immersion blender cup with about 1/4 C bourbon and blended them to a fine puree. The day of, I mixed about 1/3 of each into a pitcher which I then filled with bourbon. Made enough for about 2 L of Julep.