I am a lover of whiskey and The Great Gatsby. So it boggles my mind that, until this summer, I had never tried a mint julep. This anomaly came to my attention and I spent this entire summer concocting this icy cold, refreshing, knockout cocktail. I’m also using this as an excuse to purchase mint julep cups – stay tuned for next summer’s feature and my husband’s wrath (update in 2021: still have not acquired said cups).
Reasons why the mint julep is my perfect warm weather cocktail: 1) it is ice, ice cold 2) it is really, really strong 3) you can wear an absurdly big hat while consuming. Through trial and error, I’ve decided my preference for this cocktail is making fresh mint simple syrup, rather than muddling mint with sugar. It keeps in the fridge and takes just a few minutes to make. Use equal parts sugar and water (e.g. 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water), add roughly chopped mint and stems, and heat over medium high heat until sugar dissolves fully. Turn off heat and allow to cool, then strain out mint.
Mint Julep Cocktail
- Total Time: 1 minute
- Yield: 1 cocktail 1x
Ingredients
- 2.5 – 3 oz bourbon whiskey (you decide how strong this should be)
- 1/2 to 3/4 oz mint simple syrup (you decide how sweet this should be)
- crush iced, at least one cup
- fresh mint to garnish
Instructions
- Fill half a glass with crushed ice
- Pour in the bourbon and simple syrup and stir vigorously
- Fill remaining half of cup with more crushed ice and add fresh mint
Notes
- Link to my Mint Simple Syrup https://stirsandstripes.com/mint-simple-syrup/
