![]() It needed that sweet to make it remotely drinkable. Whisky, back then, looked more like moonshine and less like the fine, aged Kentucky bourbon we know today. It was a hair of the dog remedy, she explained, that largely used "inferior spirits." Ice didn't become readily available in the United States until the mid-19th century, Brian said, and even that dramatically shaped how we thought about the beverage. It could be brandy, rum, whisky, rye, or really, whatever you had on hand. ![]() In its simplest form, a julep has two ingredients: a spirit and sweetness. Local cocktail consultant Eron Plevan, Jennifer Brian of Make and Muddle, and Tara Sneegas of Log Still Distillery genuinely had some fantastic suggestions for elevating, twisting and even perfecting the traditional drink of the Kentucky Derby.įirst, let’s go back in time and consider what a julep was before Churchill Downs ever even thought about running a horse race. Or even, if there was a way that I could keep the tradition alive without actually drinking something that tastes like a mint julep. I wondered if there was a best practice, so to speak, for this cocktail in which it could be elevated. So I tracked down a few Kentucky cocktail experts in the hopes of learning how to keep with the tradition yet make something more palatable. I have no problem admitting I don't like them, and I somehow end up ordering them at Churchill Downs year after year. Not having a mint julep on Derby Day, is about as faux pas as not wearing a hat to the track. While I have certainly sipped on my fair share of them, I'm not sure I’ve ever actually enjoyed doing it. Yours truly tends to consider the official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby an attack on perfectly good bourbon. ![]() People either love it or hate it, and there is little in between. The mint julep is the candy corn of the Kentucky Derby season. Watch Video: How to make The Scarlett Rose, Rose Julep Competition winning cocktail
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