Boulevardier
45 ml Bourbon, 30 ml Campari, 30 ml Sweet vermouth, 1 Orange twist
Photo: Kentucky Derby in St. John's - 2 mint juleps by Jeremy T. Hetzel · CC BY 2.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 360 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 360 ml line. Bourbon
- 48 leaves Mint
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Simple syrup
- 6 sprigs Mint sprig - A whole bouquet, if your mint is generous (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Press mint with syrup in the cup, pack with crushed ice, then pour the bourbon through.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 450 ml of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Put the mint leaves and the syrup in the bottom of a julep cup and press them gently - you want them woken, not bruised.
- Half fill the cup with crushed ice and stir for 20 seconds, so the ice and the mint get to know each other.
- Fill the rest of the way with crushed ice and pour the bourbon slowly over the top.
- Stir once more, then mound more crushed ice on top and plant a bouquet of mint in it.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Mint Julep
The julep is older than the Kentucky Derby by a century - it started life as a morning medicine in Virginia, made with whatever spirit was to hand, and only settled into bourbon and silver cups when Kentucky got hold of it. It is now drunk in enormous numbers every May, most of them made badly, which is a shame because a good one is a beautiful thing.
Getting it right
Three rules and the drink is yours. Crushed ice, not cubes - the point is a drink so cold it aches. Gentle handling of the mint, because bruised leaves taste green and bitter. And a straw that reaches the bottom of the cup, because the first sip should come from between the mint leaves where the whole drink is at its best. Hold the cup by the rim: the frost on the outside is half the pleasure, and your hand will take it off.
Tasting notes
Sweet, cold and deeply minty, with the bourbon arriving underneath like a warm room behind a cold window. It is stronger than it tastes, so take your time with it.
More Bourbon cocktails
Gold Rush
60 ml Bourbon, 20 ml Lemon juice, 20 ml Honey syrup, 1 Lemon twist
Old Fashioned
60 ml Bourbon, 10 ml Simple syrup, 4 dashes Angostura bitters, 1 Orange slice