Pile on the ice: how to make the Georgia Julep, a cocktail ripe for summer
Bourbon, peach, cooling mint, and a mountain of crushed ice.
If you like your bourbon, then this is very good news: Four Roses Bourbon is now readily available — without waiting for it to arrive from overseas — through Vanguard Luxury Brands.
How about that heat, right? If you ask me, weather, like many things, you want in moderation. Really cold winters? Only on occasion. 40 degrees-plus summer days? No, thank you all the same. Summer is extreme. It’s too damn hot.
But being the plucky little ravenous species we are, us humans have found ways around this. We make beverages cold. We find ways to keep them cold. The creators of the Esky and the low-tech wonder that is your garden variety stubbie holder? I hope they have profited generously. They deserve it.
We’ve gone to great lengths to keep our drinks cool and thwart the summer sun. Before refrigeration proper, ships would sail thousands of miles laden with ice from the north so that the south — be it the American South, the Caribbean, or even hot places as far flung as Australia — could have fancy ice for their cooling cups.
That’s right — in 1839, ice was transported to Sydney for the first time, aboard the ship Tartar. The Tartar had made the journey to our shores all the way from Boston, where the natural ice had been harvested. That journey took four months and five days, and along the way 150 tonnes of the original 400 tonnes of ice on board had melted.
Which leads me to think about a time before ice in drinks in Australia. Can you imagine that? A sweltering Australian summer, with no air conditioning, posting up to the bar to sip on a warm beer or wine or whisky? No ice to be had?
Thankfully, today, I do not have to contemplate a drink sans ice. Indeed, one neat strategy to combat the heat comes in the form of that Southern American staple, the Julep.
What is a Mint Julep but a refreshing, freezing remedy to the heat? The key to a great Julep — like the Georgia Julep recipe below — is getting the drink nice and cold and bringing all the ingredients together in harmony. The key to a good Julep is the cold, after all — our perception of sweetness is reduced the colder a drink gets. If you don't get the drink nice and cold, it can be cloyingly sweet, so make sure your crushed ice is piled high.
Who needs air conditioning?
Georgia Julep
Ingredients
- 60ml Four Roses Bourbon
- 10ml quality peach liqueur
- loads of crushed ice (loads!)
- 10-12 fresh mint leaves
- 5ml sugar syrup
Instructions
- Add the mint, sugar syrup, Four Roses Bourbon and peach liqueur to a metal Julep cup.
- Stir ingredients together.
- Add enough crushed ice to fill half the cup.
- Churn the ice and stir through the ingredients to combine thoroughly.
- Add more crushed ice, and combine again.
- Top with crushed ice.
- Garnish with fresh mint sprigs.
You can get your hands on Four Roses now through Vanguard Luxury Brands.
Sam Bygrave
