How to Make a Mint Julep with Fresh Garden Mint
When Kristin approached me about writing more blog articles, she knew that I may or may not have a thumb of death when it comes to growing things. While I know growing things is not necessarily my forte, I went out and walked around our little garden to get inspiration.
As I walked through the raised beds of nourishment, I examined what we already had growing and considered what I could do with it. Since moving to Tennessee I have begun to drink Whiskey since it’s the state drink (I think, I could also totally be making that part up) and I saw something that made me think about a seasonal favorite. This drink is iconic, refreshing, and full of garden love. This drink is the mint julep.
A mint julep is a drink with a crisp mint aroma, crushed ice sparkle, and smooth bourbon backbone. It’s an icon and is connected to one of America’s greatest sporting traditions. This will be the first in a series of posts on cocktails you can make from things in your garden!
A Drink with Garden Roots
For this drink, I felt like I needed to do a little research. I wanted to know who first thought of mixing these ingredients together. What I found through the internet (everyone’s trusted source of truth, of course!) is that the mint julep has roots going back hundreds of years. The word julep likely comes from a Persian term for “rosewater,” a sweetener once used in medicinal drinks. Over time, as people spread across the globe, those drinks evolved too.
By the 18th century, the idea of the julep had made its way to the New World. Rosewater slowly disappeared as more options for making drinks sweeter were discovered. Eventually it was replaced by sugar water. How cool is that?
Next, we need to talk about the mint. Mint is an evasive species that is widely available so naturally, once people realized that eating the plant didn’t kill you, they figured out ways to use it. We love mint in our house and we grow it in a pot since it can take over the whole garden. Mint loves a spot with full sun to a little afternoon shade.
Now to the Drink!
You make a traditional mint julep with bourbon, fresh mint leaves, sugar water, and crushed ice. This seemed like a good choice of a drink since we grow mint, make ice and always have bourbon on the shelf.
The Mint Julep and Horse Racing: A Legendary Pairing
As I dug into the history of the mint julep I found that what has pushed it forward into the mintlight (see what I did there? You don’t use lime for juleps but mint…Dad joke…I’ll stop those for now, Kristin is going to read this after all!) is horse racing.
Now, I don’t really watch horse racing but in diving deep into research, I learned this drink I have found it’s strongly tied to the Kentucky Derby. It makes sense since, other than Tennessee, Kentucky is pretty famous for making whiskey. It’s no surprise that Kentuckians serve a drink made with straight Kentucky bourbon at their signature sporting event.
Churchill Downs in Louisville hosts the Kentucky Derby each year. It’s widely known as (cue sportscasters voice) “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports, or “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports”.The Derby has been synonymous with mint juleps for nearly a century.
Since 1939, the mint julep has been the official drink of the Kentucky Derby. Every year, Derby weekend sees hundreds of thousands of juleps poured, using thousands of pounds of ice and mountains of fresh mint. The conservative estimate for this past year (a few weeks ago) was 125,000 at the race over the two days. That is a lot of juleps!
Making a Mint Julep
So in searching out our date night dinner drink, it made sense to make a traditional mint julep. We already had the mint growing in the garden, could easily make simple syrup and actually had a Kentucky Bourbon on the shelf. It was a no-brainer. Here’s the recipe that we went with after researching a bunch of different options.
Classic Mint Julep Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 oz bourbon
- 8–10 fresh mint leaves
- 1/2 oz simple syrup (or 1 tsp sugar)
- Crushed ice
- Mint sprig for garnish
Directions:
- Gently muddle mint and simple sugar in the bottom of a chilled cup.
- Add bourbon.
- Fill the cup with crushed ice.
- Add a splash of water
- Garnish with a fresh mint sprig.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to mixed drinks like this, I tend to save them for nights when Kristin and I have our weekly date night. The date night is a sacred part of our week and one that we look forward to. Since we started doing it, our marriage has flourished because of that time we regularly set aside. To make the time special and different from any other night, I will not only cook a special dinner for the two of us but I have, since moving to Tennessee, started incorporating a special drink. All of that background to say, this week it was our first mint julep.
On a scale of 1- 10, it would probably be a 6 for us. It was alright but a bit too sweet for either of our liking. I have come to learn that we tend to like drinks with a little bit of bubbles from a club soda or seltzer. Next time I make this I will try, what is called a smashed version with Club soda. I have also read that some recipes use lemon juice, which I bet would cut down on the sweetness, which I would probably add too!
Are you a cocktail drinker? Do you have a favorite way to use mint from the garden? Did I get any facts about the Derby wrong? Did you watch the Derby? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!
