Sitting under a Magnolia tree and sipping a mint julep is a good way for a Southern Gentleman to spend an afternoon. Larry
Have You Ever Tried A Mint Julep?
- Thread starter keithpip
- Start date
McBear
Member
An appropriate poll coming up on Kentucky Derby week. And as was pointed out earlier...sterling silver cups are a requirement.
photocosmo
Member
Nit Pickin'
Don't like sugar? Don't like mint? Don't put so much in the drink. A properly made Julep is actually a pretty stiff cocktail; two of 'em can make a person as goofy as Ted Nugent, three and you'll bet the long shot every time!
P.S. Jack Daniels is really not a bourbon but Jimmy Beam or Cabin Still are two good cheap ones that both work well in this libation.
Don't like sugar? Don't like mint? Don't put so much in the drink. A properly made Julep is actually a pretty stiff cocktail; two of 'em can make a person as goofy as Ted Nugent, three and you'll bet the long shot every time!
P.S. Jack Daniels is really not a bourbon but Jimmy Beam or Cabin Still are two good cheap ones that both work well in this libation.
tyusclan
Member
Never tried one, and they don't even sound good.
Mint is for breath mints, chewing gum and toothpaste. It should be against the law to put it in anything else.
Mint is for breath mints, chewing gum and toothpaste. It should be against the law to put it in anything else.
Moonman
Member
Wow! Take a really good bourbon and corrupt it, no way baby, straight up works for me.
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On a RARE occasion I'll have a mixed drink, but have never indulged in a Mint Julep before. My weakness is Single Barrel Jack, Woodford's Reserve, Blanton's, and a good Vodka over ice with plenty of jalapeno stuffed olives.
Shooting Padre
US Veteran
Well corn my pone and mint my julep, I've never had the pleasure. Up here in Minnesota, hot toddies are the thing. 
noslolo
Member
Well by the rules I don't cut it, being that I was born in Canada. But hear me out. My Dad was from Virginia and my Mom was from the states as well. So I was an American born out of country. My great great Grandfather fought in the war of the states for the south. When I was a kid, my Mom and I moved back to Maryland. that's where I grew up, heck, I even went to a southern School in Virginia. Fishburne Military School, Grey uniforms and all.
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tripledipper
Member
Been here for 19yrs but still a yankee when it comes to my choice of drinks. Mint Julep, no thonx.
Lil' LadySmith
Member
Wooops! Voted before seeing I had to be a southerner. My vote should be cancelled but don't see a way to delete it. 
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
The problem with making a PROPER julip is getting ones man servant to put on a a starched white waise coat an dpolish the goblet and serving tray before he presents it to you.
While I do like a properly prepared julip-as far as a refreshing summer drink, I sobmit that a Pimms Cup at the Napoleon House in thr quarter is second to none. 1.5 measure Pimms #1, 3 measures lemonaide-top off with 7 up and garnish with a cucumber stick. Thankfully, the Napoleon House is located caddy corner to the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court-which probably explains some of the dreck that comes out of there at times
I found this from an officer who died in WWII and post in reverent memory of the sacrifice as well as more genteel times.
Major General Wm. D. Connor
West Point, N.Y.
My Dear General Connor:
Your letter requesting my formula for mixing mint juleps leaves me in the same position in which Capt. Barber found himself when asked how he was able to carve the image of an elephant from a block of wood. He replied that it was a simple process consisting merely of whittling off the part that didn't look like an elephant.
The preparation of the quintessence of gentlemanly beverages can only be described in like terms. A mint julep is not the product of a formula. It is a ceremony and must be performed by a gentleman possessing a true sense of the artistic, a deep reverence for the ingredients and a proper appreciation of the occasion. It is a rite that must not be entrusted to a novice, a statistician nor a Yankee. It is a heritage of the old South, an emblem of hospitality and a vehicle in which noble minds can travel together upon the flower-strewn paths of a happy and congenial thought.
So far as the mere mechanics of the operation are concerned, the procedure, stripped of its ceremonial embellishments, can be described as follows:
Go to a spring where cool, crystal-clear water bubbles from under a bank of dew-washed ferns. In a consecrated vessel, dip up a little water at the source. Follow the stream through its banks of green moss and wildflowers until it broadens and trickles through beds of a mint growing in aromatic profusion and waving softly in the summer breeze.
Gather the sweetest and tenderest shoots and gently carry them home.
Go to the sideboard and select a decanter of Kentucky Bourbon, distilled by a master hand, mellowed with age yet still vigorous and inspiring. An ancestral sugar bowl, a row of silver goblets, some spoons and some ice and you are ready to start. In a canvas bag, pound twice as much ice as you think you will need. Make it fine as snow, keep it dry and do not allow to degenerate into slush.
In each goblet, put a slightly heaping teaspoonful of granulated sugar, barely cover this with spring water and slightly bruise one mint leaf into this, leaving the spoon in the goblet. Then pour elixir from decanter until the goblets are about one-fourth full. Fill the goblets with snowy ice, sprinkling in a small amount of sugar as you fill. Wipe the outside of the goblets dry and embellish copiously with mint.
Then comes the important and delicate operation of frosting. By proper manipulation of the spoon, the ingredients are circulated and blended until Nature, wishing to take a further hand and add another of its beautiful phenomena, encrusts the whole in a glistening coat of white frost. Thus harmoniously blended by the deft touches of a skilled hand, you have a beverage eminently appropriate for honorable men and beautiful women.
When all is ready, assemble your guests on the porch or in the garden where the aroma of the juleps will rise Heavenward and make the birds sing. Propose a worthy toast, raise the goblet to your lips, bury your nose in the mint, inhale a deep breath of its fragrance and sip the nectar of
the gods.
Being overcome by thirst, I can write no further.
Sincerely,
Lt. Gen. S.B. Buckner, Jr. *
V.M.I. Class of 1906
*Killed in Okinawa, 1945
Promoted Posthumously to full General, July 1954
While I do like a properly prepared julip-as far as a refreshing summer drink, I sobmit that a Pimms Cup at the Napoleon House in thr quarter is second to none. 1.5 measure Pimms #1, 3 measures lemonaide-top off with 7 up and garnish with a cucumber stick. Thankfully, the Napoleon House is located caddy corner to the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court-which probably explains some of the dreck that comes out of there at times
I found this from an officer who died in WWII and post in reverent memory of the sacrifice as well as more genteel times.
Major General Wm. D. Connor
West Point, N.Y.
My Dear General Connor:
Your letter requesting my formula for mixing mint juleps leaves me in the same position in which Capt. Barber found himself when asked how he was able to carve the image of an elephant from a block of wood. He replied that it was a simple process consisting merely of whittling off the part that didn't look like an elephant.
The preparation of the quintessence of gentlemanly beverages can only be described in like terms. A mint julep is not the product of a formula. It is a ceremony and must be performed by a gentleman possessing a true sense of the artistic, a deep reverence for the ingredients and a proper appreciation of the occasion. It is a rite that must not be entrusted to a novice, a statistician nor a Yankee. It is a heritage of the old South, an emblem of hospitality and a vehicle in which noble minds can travel together upon the flower-strewn paths of a happy and congenial thought.
So far as the mere mechanics of the operation are concerned, the procedure, stripped of its ceremonial embellishments, can be described as follows:
Go to a spring where cool, crystal-clear water bubbles from under a bank of dew-washed ferns. In a consecrated vessel, dip up a little water at the source. Follow the stream through its banks of green moss and wildflowers until it broadens and trickles through beds of a mint growing in aromatic profusion and waving softly in the summer breeze.
Gather the sweetest and tenderest shoots and gently carry them home.
Go to the sideboard and select a decanter of Kentucky Bourbon, distilled by a master hand, mellowed with age yet still vigorous and inspiring. An ancestral sugar bowl, a row of silver goblets, some spoons and some ice and you are ready to start. In a canvas bag, pound twice as much ice as you think you will need. Make it fine as snow, keep it dry and do not allow to degenerate into slush.
In each goblet, put a slightly heaping teaspoonful of granulated sugar, barely cover this with spring water and slightly bruise one mint leaf into this, leaving the spoon in the goblet. Then pour elixir from decanter until the goblets are about one-fourth full. Fill the goblets with snowy ice, sprinkling in a small amount of sugar as you fill. Wipe the outside of the goblets dry and embellish copiously with mint.
Then comes the important and delicate operation of frosting. By proper manipulation of the spoon, the ingredients are circulated and blended until Nature, wishing to take a further hand and add another of its beautiful phenomena, encrusts the whole in a glistening coat of white frost. Thus harmoniously blended by the deft touches of a skilled hand, you have a beverage eminently appropriate for honorable men and beautiful women.
When all is ready, assemble your guests on the porch or in the garden where the aroma of the juleps will rise Heavenward and make the birds sing. Propose a worthy toast, raise the goblet to your lips, bury your nose in the mint, inhale a deep breath of its fragrance and sip the nectar of
the gods.
Being overcome by thirst, I can write no further.
Sincerely,
Lt. Gen. S.B. Buckner, Jr. *
V.M.I. Class of 1906
*Killed in Okinawa, 1945
Promoted Posthumously to full General, July 1954
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rburg
Member
Like so many mixed drinks, if you prepare it wrong, then you might even have the nerve to suggest it wasn't very good. Of course you're entitled to your own uninformed opinion on things. Everyone here in KY doesn't drink, and a much larger percentage don't know how to properly mix anything. Instead of trying something you now nothing about, go someplace that mixes them regularly and buy one.
Of course then you'll get it served in some form of inferior glass. Nothing silver plated, it does require a sterling silver Mint Julep glass. They're all around here at the better antique shows, or commonly found in my china cabinet. Back when silver was cheap, they could often be bought for as little as $100 in well used (experienced) shape. With silver gone past $30 an ounce, good luck finding one at all. There are even some heathens down around Lexington who have them made out of coin silver. Even if old, no proper gentleman would drink from such a thing.
As for the proper bourbon, its important to understand you're putting in even more sweetness and some mint to boot. It doesn't help much to buy some outrageously priced single barrel stuff. Just good $20 a bottle KENTUCKY bourbon will suffice. Don't bother with that rot made elsewhere. Once a year you might as well use the best.
And all this reminds me, I need to take a hike. The crooked politicians around here have bulldozed my favorite mint growing spot. I have no idea if they've destroyed the mother lode or not. I also have no idea if all that "activity" has tipped off others to what grows on the sacred ground.
Of course then you'll get it served in some form of inferior glass. Nothing silver plated, it does require a sterling silver Mint Julep glass. They're all around here at the better antique shows, or commonly found in my china cabinet. Back when silver was cheap, they could often be bought for as little as $100 in well used (experienced) shape. With silver gone past $30 an ounce, good luck finding one at all. There are even some heathens down around Lexington who have them made out of coin silver. Even if old, no proper gentleman would drink from such a thing.
As for the proper bourbon, its important to understand you're putting in even more sweetness and some mint to boot. It doesn't help much to buy some outrageously priced single barrel stuff. Just good $20 a bottle KENTUCKY bourbon will suffice. Don't bother with that rot made elsewhere. Once a year you might as well use the best.
And all this reminds me, I need to take a hike. The crooked politicians around here have bulldozed my favorite mint growing spot. I have no idea if they've destroyed the mother lode or not. I also have no idea if all that "activity" has tipped off others to what grows on the sacred ground.
Once a Year is enough for me.
I have drank a few, or possibly more, mint juleps.
Failing to imbibe with a julep at a derby party is grounds for banishment.
Once a Year is enough for me.
I would rather have mint tea with iced bourbon on the side.
Bekeart
I have drank a few, or possibly more, mint juleps.
Failing to imbibe with a julep at a derby party is grounds for banishment.
Once a Year is enough for me.
I would rather have mint tea with iced bourbon on the side.
Bekeart
medxam
US Veteran
I always make them for my wife and her "foo foo" lady friends when they come over to watch the Kentucky Derby on TV every year. They are very refreshing, once a year, in the spirit of the Derby, but certainly not my favorite drink. The ones at the Pontchartrain Hotel are very good, but you can go broke fast buying them for a crowd! We went to the Derby once when we were completing our Grand Slam of Great Athletic Events (Masters Golf Tournament, World Series, Super Bowl, etc.) and the ones at Churchill Downs were junk! I agree, use a good KY bourbon but don't go all out. The real secret is fresh mint from the garden and SHAVED ice. They MUST be served in sterling silver goblets! Don't drink many if you are planning on driving home!
medxam
medxam
kimporter
Member
born and raised in ky,dont like the mint julip's at all.i like my bourbon over ice and thats it,i worked at a couple horse farms in my day and had tasted them,TOO SWEET,kinda like my grannys sweet tea,didnt really care for it either
The Highlander
Member
I prefer Bourbon over a little ice. But, in the summer, a good MJ or Mojito is very good with a nice hand-rolled cigar and a conversation with my lovely wife.
A. Too sweet.
B. Getting our man servant to put on a clean t-shirt is a struggle --- *a starched white waise coat* ain't gonna happen.
C. I'm aghast to find that such a revered man as General Buckner would give away THE SECRET of how to carve an elephant.
Now everyone will be doing it!
B. Getting our man servant to put on a clean t-shirt is a struggle --- *a starched white waise coat* ain't gonna happen.
C. I'm aghast to find that such a revered man as General Buckner would give away THE SECRET of how to carve an elephant.
Now everyone will be doing it!
OK Hog Shooter
Member
I've had a mint julep or two... a few more mojitos... but still prefer the simplicity of a good cold porter or stout!
