Mint Julep

The Mint Julep is a Southern American cocktail of bourbon, sugar and fresh mint, gently muddled and served over a mound of crushed ice in a frosted metal julep cup, crowned with a bouquet of mint. It is one of the oldest drinks in the American canon, descended from the medicinal "julep" of the eighteenth century, and is best known as the ceremonial drink of the Kentucky Derby. Cold to the point of frosting the cup, lightly sweet and intensely aromatic with mint, it is a slow, contemplative warm-weather drink — spirit-forward but softened by sugar, ice and dilution. The metal cup, held only at the rim so frost can form, and the tall sprig of mint set to meet the drinker's nose are as much a part of the ritual as the bourbon itself.