After disclaiming both "pretenders and upstarts" from other states who attempted to produce the famous drink, Irvin Cobb once plainly stated, "There is but one bona fide mint julip… [it is] indigenous to the Bluegrass."
After disclaiming both "pretenders and upstarts" from other states who attempted to produce the famous drink, Irvin Cobb once plainly stated, "There is but one bona fide mint julip… [it is] indigenous to the Bluegrass."
Follow Cobb's recipe on Kentucky soil and you should produce a "bona fide mint julip."
"Take from the cold spring, some water, pure as the angels are; mix twitch sugar until it seems like oil. Then take a glass and crush your mint in it with a spoon. Crush it around the border of the glass and leave no place untouched. Then throw the mint away. It is a sacrifice. Fill with cracked ice the glass; pour in the quantity of bourbon which you want. It trickles slowly through the ice. Let it have time to cool, then pour your sugared water over it. No spoon is needed, no stirring allowed. Just let it stand a moment. then around the brim place sprigs of mint, so that the one who drinks may find taste and odor at one draught. And that, my friend, is one hell of a fine mint julep."
