soapbox

As Nick commented at lunch (or sometime) the other day, they’re coming out with a $1,000 mint julep (complete with special commemorative gold-plated glass). “Mint from Morocco, ice from the Arctic Circle and sugar from the South Pacific will put this mint julep in a class of its own,” combined with Woodford Reserve, will be pretty tasty, but one grand per? It’s also a benefit for retired horses, if that makes it easier to justify.

For those who want to practice for the May 6th event, look up a recipe.

Below is my buddy’s advice on the issue:

There are many variations of the mint julep, obviously, but a good, basic mint julep can be made by combining mint syrup, bourbon, ice, and a sprig of mint. The bourbon should be a Kentucky style bourbon such as Jim Beam NOT a Tennessee sour mash bourbon (Jack Daniels). Crushed or shaved ice is best, and the julep is traditionally served in a silver cup. Proportions of syrup to bourbon vary from 1 part bourbon/4 parts syrup to 2 parts bourbon/1 part syrup.

To make the mint syrup: Take a bunch of mint and at least a cup of sugar for every three cups of water. Turbinado sugar is ideal, but if you can’t find it white sugar is fine. Bruise each mint leaf with the back of a spoon and roll it in the sugar (put the mint and sugar inside a closed Ziploc bag while bruising). Then let mint and sugar sit for a few hours (or even a day or so). Boil the mint, sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved and the water is brown. Chill, leaving at least some of the mint in the syrup as it chills.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 15th, 2006 at 2:57 pm and is filed under beer, sports, television, things that kick ass. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.