Frozen Mint Juleps

(adapted from Emeril Lagasse)

Attention all: I LOVE this drink! Joef made a great mint julep last year for the Kentucky Derby, and this one - for me, at least - and this year he topped it. It's probably a little sweeter and mintier, and the frozen/blended factor was a nice change of pace. If you wanted to go more traditional, you could probably use the same recipe and just not blend the ingredients with ice at the end, instead just adding ice cubes. In any case - fantastic!

For one pitcher:
3/4 cup sugar in the raw
1/2 cup water
1 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped, plus additional sprigs for garnish
1 cup bourbon (we used Noah's Mill - soooo good, and as Joef would like me to note, 57%)
3 cups ice

In a small pot, heat water and sugar over medium-low, stirring until sugar has fully dissolved. Remove from heat. Add mint and set aside to cool.

When mixture has cooled, strain out the mint leaves with a fine mesh strainer. This is your syrup.

In a blender, combine ice, syrup, and bourbon. Blend until smooth. Serve with mint garnish and it's off to the races!

Kentucky Derby Mint Juleps

Who says a food blog can't do drinks, too? Joef is a master drink-mixer. This is his own recipe, and a must for derby-watching. (I won, by the way: both first and second place!)

Let the guest blogging begin!
"Serves 4:

8 oz. Bourbon (140 proof) – George T. Stagg – Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
8 oz. Water*
4 oz. Sugar Cane Simple Syrup
30 mint leaves, plus mint to garnish
Paper Towels
Ice

1. Soak the mint leaves in 3 oz. of bourbon in a small bowl for 15 minutes.
2. Remove the mint leaves from the bourbon and roll them into a paper towel.
3. Soak the portion of the paper towel containing the mint in the bourbon and wring the towel into the bowl; resoak and repeat several times. The bourbon should smell thoroughly minty after repeating this process multiple times.
5. When complete, discard the mint and paper towel.
6. Add an additional 5 oz. of bourbon to the minty bourbon along with 8oz. water and 4 oz. sugar cane simple syrup.
7. Stir the mixture with a spoon.
8. Freeze for 30 minutes.
9. Pour contents into four highball glasses filled with ice.
10. Garnish with mint sprigs.
11. Cheer for your horse of choice!

*I used an especially strong bourbon. Hence, I chose to cut the mixture with water. If you are using a lower proof bourbon, I would recommend using less water and more bourbon, aiming for a water/bourbon mixture that is approximately 40% alcohol."

Because this drink is primarily the bourbon, it's probably worth biting the bullet and getting a good one. Here's what we used, along with the sugar cane syrup: