Julep

What is a julep?

The julep is the king of the mint drinks: one spirit, classically bourbon, sugar, mint and a whole mountain of crushed ice, served in a cup, traditionally silver or copper. The mint julep is closely tied to the Kentucky Derby, where it has been the official drink of the race for decades. And the roots go far back: in the old American South the julep was first drunk as a medicine, or so the story goes, and they were not entirely wrong, mint, sugar and cold are an honest remedy against heat.

What makes a julep

• The mint: woken, not crushed, more on the right treatment in our muddle entry
• The mountain of ice: crushed ice, fast to chill and fast to dilute, the balance behind it is in our dilution entry: dilution is the ingredient, over-diluting is the mistake
• The cup: silver or copper, cold enough to frost over on the outside, the most honest proof of the temperature inside
• The kinship: the smash is the little sister in the whiskey glass, more on that in our smash entry

Distinction: julep, smash and cobbler

Mint, short mint or fruit: the julep is the grand form in the cup, the smash the little sister, the cobbler the fruit version, more on that in our cobbler entry.

Remember: the buck brings ginger, the mule brings copper, the cobbler brings fruit and ice, the julep brings mint, the crusta brings the sugar rim.

At our lounge

Ask for a mint julep if you like mint and cold: the cup frosts on the outside, inside it stays ice cold, and the mint scents right to the last sip. Rarely does more summer fit into a cup.