Mint Julep

Why This Recipe Works

While mint juleps are inexorably tied to Kentucky, they may have had their origins more than a century earlier in Virginia, where mint was mixed with brandy or rum as a medicinal morning pick-me-up. Regardless of its lineage, this three-ingredient cocktail (four counting the ice) is elegant in its simplicity and is meant to be sipped, the flavors and intensity of the drink evolving as the crushed ice melts. For our take on this iconic cocktail, we didn't stray far from the classic composition: We muddled a third of a cup of fresh mint leaves with Simple Syrup to release the aromatic oils, and stirred in bourbon before straining the cocktail into a serving vessel (an old-fashioned glass works if you don't have a julep cup) and topping with a mound of crushed ice and a generous sprig of fresh mint. Tasters enjoyed the fresh minty flavor and the slight, but not too strong, sweetness.