Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Minty Fresh

Happy Derby eve! I found it somewhat hard to believe in my couple years writing about drinks, I’ve yet to make a mint julep. This needs to be rectified immediately. Especially since I’m going to be serving them to a small gathering we’re hosting for the Derby, so I should probably practice making one right? Exactly.

I chose Jim Meehan’s version of the julep since he hasn’t steered me wrong when it comes to cocktails, so I figured it was a pretty safe bet that his would be pretty good.

Mint Julep

2.5 oz. Booker’s Bourbon (I used Four Roses)

.5 oz. Simple syrup

8 Mint leaves, plus 3 mint sprigs for garnish

Muddle the mint leaves and simple syrup in a chilled julep cup. Add the bourbon and top with pebble ice. Swizzle, then top with more pebble ice. Garnish with 3 mint sprigs.

Yes, I know I made this in a mule mug and not a Julep cup. I don’t own a Julep cup, and I figured this would be an acceptable substitute, and beggars can’t be choosers here. Anyway, The drink has little to no aroma here to my surprise. What is there is mostly mint, with a few hits of whiskey mixed in there. I would have thought the mint would have showed up a little more here since it has such a strong smell. Another surprise is the near lack of any bourbon scent as well. Though the pile of crushed ice* on top may be smothering it a little bit.

*As noted above, the recipe calls for “pebbled ice”. However I was working with whole cubes so a ziploc bag and a meat mallet worked to get me crushed ice, and that was as good as it was going to get.

The sip is cold, smooth and refreshing. The bourbon isn’t overpowering, but you can certainly taste it. The simple syrup adds a lot of sweetness which helps make this a bit more drinkable. Especially if you’re knocking these back outside on a warm to hot day. The sweet mint and whiskey flavor stays consistent throughout the entire sip since that’s all that we’re working with here. Though letting the ice melt a little bit will water it down and dilute the flavors as a whole. Assuming you even let it get to that point…

My opinion? I think it’s a bit over hyped.  There is beauty in simplicity sure, but this just seems….meh. It’s good, don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to turn one down to me if offered, but I think the flavors are a little flat. Especially with as much hype, pomp, and circumstance as this has around it thanks to it being associated with the Derby. If I have mint and bourbon on hand, I think I would rather make a whiskey smash. It has the same ingredients, but with added lemon. That makes a ton of difference. The lemon adds a little more zip that I think this is missing. So ahead and get the ingredients for both and mix them both up for the derby. Now I’m going to go back to researching horses for my Trifecta Box.

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