THE AUTHENTIC, TRADITIONAL MINT JULEP

Since the Kentucky Derby is fast approaching, I thought I'd provide my recipe for a traditional Mint Julep. This came long ago from Rob Kasper at The Baltimore Sun and I've used it for years. I have four Jefferson cups, given to me by my parents many Christmases ago and I use them for the Juleps, making some of each julep on the night before and holding the prepared cups in the fridge until the next day.

THE AUTHENTIC, TRADITIONAL MINT JULEP

makes one drink



6 mint leaves

2 T club soda

2 T sugar (yes, honey lamb, 2 tablespoons)

bourbon

1. The night before you want to serve these, plunge one julep cup per person into a pot filled with ice, almost to the rim. Pluck six mint leaves from the top of a sprig of mint and drop them into each cup. Crush the mint against the sides of the cup with a wooden spoon. Add the sugar and club soda to the cup and muddle a little more.

2. The next day when guests arrive, fill each glass with crushed ice. Not ice cubes, crushed ice. Pour the bourbon to the top of each cup, top with a srpig of mint and serve with straws pushed to the bottom of the cup and cut off so that they come just above the rim of the cup.

3. The purpose of the short straw is two-fold: the drinker will be forced to smell the mint as he is drinking the julep and since we taste with our nose as much as our mouth, this will enhance the julep's flavor, and the straw gets sugar from the bottom of the cup, thereby preventing a jolt of bourbon and helping the julep move immediately into the bloodstream! Heaven!