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The Story that started it all. The Handcrafted Mint Julep

From Served Raw Magazine.. Just about the first piece I ever wrote about cocktails… or anything for that matter.  

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05.25.10

The Hand-Crafted Mint Julep

by Warren Bobrow, Wild Table editor, food writer and cocktail whisperer

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Heat and humidity is what says “Charleston, South Carolina” in the summertime. The air, thick with the sour smell of decay from the confluence of the Cooper and the Ashley Rivers at low tide. Fort Sumpter just out of reach, where the Civil War started they say. The mood somehow becomes somber around town. People run amok for the smallest things. Heat and the unrelenting breezes will do that — it makes them crazy!

Muddle mint and sugar — be gentle … it’s not a test of physical strength.

I was working as a chef at the Primrose House and Tavern. Joann Yaeger, the owner and creative force behind the restaurant, would gather me up at the end of a particularly busy night at the restaurant, under the broad piazzas that signified the architectural history of this former mansion, to learn the art of the hand-crafted mint julep. Bourbon would be at the ready. Sterling silver julep cups, polished to a crisp shine waiting in the wings, along with ice to be crushed, sugar to be muddled and mint just picked from the garden.

Add rye whiskey, the mother’s milk of the julep.

The Hand-Crafted Mint Julep

  1. Muddle fresh mint leaves and ice together to make a soft paste.
  2. Add a bit of brown sugar (sugar in the raw works best) and continue to muddle, adding more ice, and a splash or two of the good bourbon your pappy told you would make a fine drink.
  3. Add a touch more bourbon, some ice, some sugar, some mint. Never use metal on silver. I’ll rue the day that I allow a cocktail silver cup to touch metal other than silver. It’s just not done! The cup should frost up nicely when finished.
  4. Top off with another splash of bourbon. Use about 2 to 3 shots total for this drink.
  5. Garnish with fresh mint.

Thanks to Joann Yaeger for being my friend all these years.

Adding more rye, always recommended.

By Warren_Bobrow

Warren is the cofounder and CEO of drinkklaus.com, the finest terpene forward, craft cannabis cocktail in the world. He's written Apothecary Cocktails-Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today, Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails: Restorative Vintage Cocktails, Mocktails, and Elixirs , Whiskey Cocktails : Rediscovered Classics and Contemporary Craft Drinks Using the World's Most Popular Spirit, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations, and the Craft Cocktail Compendium (2017)
Warren Bobrow has been a pot scrubber, dishwasher, the owner of the first company to make fresh pasta in South Carolina , a television engineer in New York City, and he even worked at the famed club named Danceteria. He became a trained chef from the dish sink up; this unfortunately led to a mostly unsuccessful twenty year career in private banking.
Currently a cannabis, wine and travel aficionado, Warren is a former international rum judge and craft spirits national brand ambassador.
He works full time in the cannabis business as an alchemist/journalist/CEO. Instagram: warrenbobrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bobrow