Mint Juleps, Derby Picks and the Headline I Don't Want to See

Hello, thirsty people.

Be jealous. Be very freaking jealous.

I’m drinking a Mint Julep at the place that claims to have invented the Mint Julep.

Or, to be more accurate perhaps, the place where the bourbon-based concoction first appeared on a menu.

That would be the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. The Greenbrier has archival bills of fare from 1816 offering guests “julips” at 25 cents a pop, about $10.50 in today’s money.

Those julips were likely made from brandy since bourbon, created by Baptist minister Elijah Craig in 1785, hadn’t yet taken over the South.

But no matter. The Greenbrier was on the right track.

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As for who actually invented the Mint Julep? That honor likely goes to anonymous mixologists from the early 19th century, probably Black and probably slaves. God bless ’em.

The first mention of a “mint julep” at The Greenbrier is in the 1832 journal of John H.B. Latrobe, a Baltimore lawyer who so poetically and breathlessly noted, “I saw here for the first time a hailstorm, that is to say, a mint julep made with a hailstorm around it. The drink is manufactured pretty much as usual and well filled with a quantity of ice chopped in small pieces, which is then put in shape of a fillet around the outside of the tumbler where it adheres like a ring of rock candy and forms an external icy application to your lower lip as you drink it, while the ice within the glass presses against your upper lip. It is nectar, they say, in this part of the country.”

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That’s why the Mint Julep is getting star treatment in The Greenbrier Cookbook.

The Story Farm crew was on location at the resort this week and the Mint Julep was the main attraction at one of our photo shoots. Here’s the setup from my pal and longtime co-conspirator, photographer Peter Frank Edwards.

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For those of you who’d like to try a Mint Julep at home while watching Saturday’s Kentucky Derby … here’s the Greenbrier recipe.

Ingredients
12-15 fresh, large mint leaves
1 ounce simple syrup
2 ounces bourbon (The Greenbrier uses Woodford Reserve)
Powdered sugar for garnish

In a small julep cup, gently muddle half the mint leaves in the simple syrup. Fill with crushed ice. Pour bourbon over the ice and give it a couple of stirs with a long bar spoon. Garnish with remaining mint leaves dusted with powdered sugar.

Pro tip: Sip your julep through the skinniest straw you can find. Otherwise you’ll want to guzzle it. Which ain’t necessarily a bad thing.

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Bob’s Diner Picks the Derby Winner
I don’t follow horse racing except at Derby time. And I know nothing about any of the horses in the race. I go strictly by their names and from that I divine a winner, like reading tea leaves in a cup. Here’s the lineup (for the record, more than half of the horses did at least some of their early training in Florida):

And based on those names alone, I pick:

Show: Admire Daytona (Because, well, Florida)

Place: Publisher (Because that’s what I sometimes call myself)

Win: Journalism (Because Journalism sure deserves some respect these days)

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But given the political clime, I’m kinda worried about that No. 18 horse. Because, well, we’ve got this guy in the White House who considers himself a monarch.

I’m also worried about horses getting injured and having to be put down.

So the headline I don’t want to see is: Journalism Beats Sovereignty Only to be Euthanized After Race

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If you want to find out how all the Derby horses got their names, here’s an interesting piece from the Lexington Herald-Leader, a suspected provider of journalism.

See ya back here whenever. Most likely tomorrow. Until then, please: