Mint Juleps

After quite few hours of work I'm finally happy with the way the page looks like. There is still a lot of cosmetic and technical details which could be done but for now it's fine.

Oh, I'm so excited! Now I can move to the fun part! Cooking and posting recipes :)

Because today is my "grand opening" I'm going to celebrate with the mint Juleps! Julep is a delicious and refreshing cocktail, mixture of bourbon and mint, gently sweetened with sugar, poured over crushed ice and sometimes topped of with fizzy water.

 

First you have to make a simple syrup with Muscovado sugar and a lot of fresh mint leaves. You should do that minimum 2 hours before you plan to make the cocktails but the syrup can be made up to a few weeks ahead and stored in the refrigerator - which makes life a lot easier.

 

 

Muscovado Mint Syrup

(enough for about 10 cocktails)

- 1 cup light or dark muscovado sugar (darker the sugar, the more flavorful and deep color of the finished cocktail)

- 1 cup of water

- leaves from 1 large bunch of mint (I used 1 1/2 package of AB Basilopoulous packed mint)

- 1 small vanilla bean (optional)

In a medium size sauce pan, bring the sugar, water and the vanilla to a simmer, stir time to time to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add the mint leaves. Cover and let it stand for about 30 minutes. Strain the syrup through the fine sieve and let it cool. Chill in the the refrigerator until cold.

The Julep

(makes 1 cocktail)

- couple of mint leaves, plus some pretty ones for garnish

- 1/4 cup good bourbon (I used Maker's Mark)

- 2 tablespoons of muscovado mint syrup

- 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice (lemon is fine too)

- ice cubes or crushed ice

Place the mint in a cocktail shaker or masoin jar and crush lightly. Add the bourbon, syrup, lime juice, and a few ice cubes. Shake until nicely cold, 30 second it's more than enough! Strain into a glass packed with crushed ice, garnish with the extra mint leaves. Cheers!