1) The memoires, journals, diaries of the 1860s, both of gentlemen and soldiers, and of girls and ladies, back in print today record a wealth of detail, amongst which is the Mint Julip.

2) Julips were indeed ceremonies recalling what is unsaid but everywhere Southern known, about life and death, birth and brief intervals of life bittersweet amongst the travails of family and neighbour life — where the two and their far extended ranges intertwined complexly and subtly — brief ceremonies of lingering beatitude, at literally any time of the day, even for breakfast requite with fresh strawberries recorded my one military man during that Emergency which destroyed their wonderful way of Natural and Spiritual living, with the twain again intermixed and the dividing lines interblurred, yet these within a plethora of social conventions at once strictly and yet broadly interpreted.

3) ‘White Sugar’ of those days was preferred not over refined, but like the readily available ‘Washed Cane’ natural sugars at every good market, here in the U.S. West, by California & Hawaii (C&H) now acquired — and koshered(! — one is reminded of the wary biblical injunction of ‘adding field to field till there is none’) — under the Domino corporation. Available in Europe and doubtless world-wide, these light amber varieties of Cane sugar taste the part, the which has the character of molassis but without trace of bitterness.

4) Bitterness is also avoided in the mint by avoiding the thick, older, stems and choosing the young leaves which are at once chemically active and not at all bitter.

5) The spring — or, ‘branch’ water — is known even in Morocco, where the best Mint Teas are prepared in thick glass tumblers, held in one hand by rim and bottom edge, which locate where mint and spring water join, such as the foot of the Atlas Mountains below Tetuan and Tangier, in the land of giant crusty, unbleached local wheat flour Berber breads and that other herb which , blended with black Berber tobacco constitutes the respectable pipe contents of ‘Kief’e’ — the unblended herb considered buffoonish, and if viewed by fez headed, red goat leather shoed elderly men, invoke a wag of the finger, ‘Kief’e yes, hashish no!’

Definately heavier then a mojito and not quite as refreshing. I see this as a more social drink while a mojito would be better alone in a lounge chair on a sunny day.

Also ran into some problems with the mint I bought. The pack only had 4 sprigs in it, but the leaves were enormous. Used 2 sprigs and it was a little too much. I put one of the sprigs in some water to root.

You can get powder-fine ice using this method, or with lighter whacks, anything from light-cracked to fine-cracked.

-Robert

And I just want to make sure I like this drink before I make the purchase of the julep glasses.

Now I’ve added 2 more items to my “List of barware to buy” on my PDA.

re: Mintiness…
I definately prefer this to me more minty then you might find a mojito to be. Part of this is because bourbon is more robust in flavor than light rum, and thus it can stand up to (if not require) more mint. There are of course many different ways to make a Mint Julep, Gary Regan prefers to make his without using ANY mint IN the drink, instead he festoons the top of the finished drink full of little sprigs of mint, until it looks like a green carpet on top of the glass. His idea is that the mint is an ofactory element to the sweetened burbon, with some of the mint then leaching down into the drink.

re: sprigness…
An ingredient like mint is SO hard to quantify. Some have large leaves, some small, some full of flavor, some light. So it’s sort of an exercise to the reader to figure out the right balance for their tastes, and with the mint they currently have available.

re: glass…
Yes, a Double Old Fashioned is a good glass size… but I highly recommend you pick up some real julep glasses, that’s part of the fun :->

re: crusher…
I prefer making and using big ice cubes for mixing drinks. When I need smaller ice, I’ll either use an “Ice Cracker” (search for it over on Amazon.com) when the drink calls for “cracked ice”, or a “Lewis Ice Bag” (just do a normal web search for it) when the drink needs finely crushed ice (as in the Mint Julep).

So is this supposed to be more minty then a mojito? I noticed it calls for more mint. And this recipe gives you 3 oz plus ice while the mojito is noticably more.

Sprig is one of those words that slightly annoys me. Kind of like “juice of 1 lime”. Some limes give me 1/2oz juice while others are well over 1oz. Through trial and error(and lots of fun and refreshment), I’ve been able to eyeball the mint in the mojito. I guess I just double that?

And looking at the amount of ingredients, I assume a double old fashioned or a “on the rocks” glass would be suitable?

And 1 interesting tidbit. I don’t have an ice crusher. But I was at the local Kmart and saw they have some Martha Stewart “Mini ice cube” trays. I wouldn’t say it’s as good as crushed, but the ice is about as small as your pinky finger nail. It takes an entire tray to fill a double OF glass, so I made sure to buy several. They have made a NOTICEABLE improvement on my OFs and Margaritas!