It’s horse racing season, and American Pharaoh is gearing up for the Belmont Stakes on June 6th to become the first horse in 37 years to win each leg of the Triple Crown. Although the Kentucky Derby was at the beginning of May, we’re enjoying some Mint Juleps in honor of Mint Julep Day!
The Mint Julep is the traditional beverage of the Churchill Downs and the Derby for a century, serving almost 120,000 drinks over the race weekend.
Today, we’re making the official Kentucky Derby recipe.
You’ll need:
2 Cups of water for simple syrup
2 Cups of sugar for simple syrup
Fresh sprigs of mint
Crushed Ice
Whiskey
Mint Julep Cups (We didn’t have any on hand, so we used Moscow Mule cups)
Directions:
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Make a simple syrup by boiling the water and sugar for 5 minutes. We ended up using a pre-made mixture of simple syrup, which saved a lot of time! You can this buy at a grocery store.
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Let cool and place in a covered container with sprigs of fresh mint, and refrigerate overnight.
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Make one Julep at a time by filling a cup with crushed ice, adding a tablespoon of the mint syrup, and two ounces of whiskey. Stir rapidly with a spoon so the outside of the cup will frost. We used a cocktail mixer, which did the same thing.
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To top it off, garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.
To make this a non-alcoholic drink, add Ginger Ale instead of whiskey.
With a little preparation ahead of time, this is a perfect drink for relaxing on the patio with some friends!
