Here’s a Mint Julep you won’t be sipping at the Kentucky Derby. It’s only in New Orleans, and only at the Museum of the American Cocktail.
May is the month of the Kentucky Derby. And with all good wishes to our friends in the Bluegrass State, here in New Orleans, we’ll be celebrating World Cocktail Week at the Museum of the American Cocktail.
New Orleans is traditionally considered a mecca for cocktails. As our cocktail brethren observe their versions of World Cocktail Week in New York, Washington D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Hong Kong, London and around the world, we’ll be staging a Crescent City fest as only we can.
New York’s Dale de Groff, known everywhere as “King Cocktail,” and our own Chris McMillian, mixologist par excellence at Bar UnCommon in the CBD’s Renaissance Arts Hotel, will be concocting the Fire and Ice Mint Julep, a flaming 5-gallon adaptation of the traditional Julep, on May 8 at the museum. It is definitely not a drink that offers a “home version.”
McMillian just returned from a special appearance at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he regaled a usually jaded Nation’s Capitol crowd with his presentation and preparation skills, and a recitation of his epic poem, “Ode to A Mint Julep.” (The video of the event is available at Blip.tv/file/1768560.)
The Mint Julep
1/2 ounce simple syrup
2 sprigs mint (Use tender, young mint sprigs.
They last longer and look better in the glass.)
2 ounces Knob Creek Bourbon
Muddle one sprig of mint in the bottom of a highball
glass with simple syrup.
Add the bourbon and fill with crushed ice.
Swirl with a bar spoon until the outside of the glass frosts.
Garnish with a sprig of mint.
Celebrate World Cocktail Week in New Orleans at the Museum of the American Cocktail, Riverwalk Festival Marketplace, within the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, on Friday, May 8, at 6 p.m. Tickets are available online at Museumoftheamericancocktail.com.
