ALABAMA HERITAGE
  • Magazine
    • Current and Back Issues >
      • Back Issues 141-150 >
        • Issue 147, Winter 2023
        • Issue 146, Fall 2022
        • Issue 145, Summer 2022
        • Issue 144, Spring 2022
        • Issue 143, Winter 2022
        • Issue 142, Fall 2021
        • Issue 141, Summer 2021
      • Back Issues 131-140 >
        • Issue 140, Spring 2021
        • Issue 139, Winter 2021
        • Issue 138, Fall 2020
        • Issue 137, Summer 2020
        • Issue 136, Spring 2020
        • Issue 135, Winter 2020
        • Issue 134, Fall 2019
        • Issue 133, Summer 2019
        • Issue 132 Spring 2019
        • Issue 131, Winter 2019
      • Back Issues 121-130 >
        • Issue 130, Fall 2018
        • Issue 129, Summer 2018
        • Issue 128, Spring 2018
        • Issue 127, Winter 2018
        • Issue 126, Fall 2017
        • Issue 125 Summer 2017
        • Issue 124, Spring 2017
        • Issue 123, Winter 2017
        • Issue 122, Fall 2016
        • Issue 121, Summer 2016
      • Back Issues 111-120 >
        • Issue 120, Spring 2016
        • Issue 119, Winter 2016
        • Issue 118, Fall 2015
        • Issue 117, Summer 2015
        • Issue 116, Spring 2015
        • Issue 115, Winter 2015
        • Issue 114, Fall 2014
        • Issue 113, Summer 2014
        • Issue 112, Spring 2014
        • Issue 111, Winter 2014
      • Back Issues 101-110 >
        • Issue 110, Fall 2013
        • Issue 109, Summer 2013
        • Issue 108, Spring 2013
        • Issue 107, Winter 2013
        • Issue 106, Fall 2012
        • Issue 105, Summer 2012
        • Issue 104, Spring 2012
        • Issue 103, Winter 2012
        • Issue 102, Fall 2011
        • Issue 101, Summer 2011
      • Back Issues 91-100 >
        • Issue 100, Spring 2011
        • Issue 99, Winter 2011
        • Issue 98, Fall 2010
        • Issue 97, Summer 2010
        • Issue 96, Spring 2010
        • Issue 95, Winter 2010
        • Issue 94, Fall 2009
        • Issue 93, Summer 2009
        • Issue 92, Spring 2009
        • Issue 91, Winter 2009
      • Back Issues 81-90 >
        • Issue 90, Fall 2008
        • Issue 89, Summer 2008
        • Issue 88, Spring 2008
        • Issue 87, Winter 2008
        • Issue 86, Fall 2007
        • Issue 85, Summer 2007
        • Issue 84, Spring 2007
        • Issue 83, Winter 2007
        • Issue 82, Fall 2006
        • Issue 81, Summer 2006
      • Back Issues 71-80 >
        • Issue 80, Spring 2006
        • Issue 79, Winter 2006
        • Issue 78, Fall 2005
        • Issue 77, Summer 2005
        • Issue 76, Spring 2005
        • Issue 75, Winter 2005
        • Issue 74, Fall 2004
        • Issue 73, Summer 2004
        • Issue 72, Spring 2004
        • Issue 71, Winter 2004
      • Back Issues 61-70 >
        • Issue 70, Fall 2003
        • Issue 69, Summer 2003
        • Issue 68, Spring 2003
        • Issue 67, Winter 2003
        • Issue 66, Fall 2002
        • Issue 65, Summer 2002
        • Issue 64, Spring 2002
        • Issue 63, Winter 2002
        • Issue 62, Fall 2001
        • Issue 61, Summer 2001
      • Back Issues 51-60 >
        • Issue 60, Spring 2001
        • Issue 59, Winter 2001
        • Issue 58, Fall 2000
        • Issue 57, Summer 2000
        • Issue 56, Spring 2000
        • Issue 55, Winter 2000
        • Issue 54, Fall 1999
        • Issue 53, Summer 1999
        • Issue 52, Spring 1999
        • Issue 51, Winter 1999
      • Back Issues 41-50 >
        • Issue 50, Fall 1998
        • Issue 49, Summer 1998
        • Issue 48, Spring 1998
        • Issue 47, Winter 1998
        • Issue 46, Fall 1997
        • Issue 45, Summer 1997
        • Issue 44, Spring 1997
        • Issue 43, Winter 1997
        • Issue 42, Fall 1996
        • Issue 41, Summer 1996
      • Back Issues 31-40 >
        • Issue 40, Spring 1996
        • Issue 39, Winter 1996
        • Issue 38, Fall 1995
        • Issue 37, Summer 1995
        • Issue 36, Spring 1995
        • Issue 35, Winter 1995
        • Issue 34, Fall 1994
        • Issue 33, Summer 1994
        • Issue 32, Spring 1994
        • Issue 31, Winter 1994
      • Back Issues 21-30 >
        • Issue 30, Fall 1993
        • Issue 29, Summer 1993
        • Issue 28, Spring 1993
        • Issue 27, Winter 1993
        • Issue 26, Fall 1992
        • Issue 25, Summer 1992
        • Issue 24, Spring 1992
        • Issue 23, Winter 1992
        • Issue 22, Fall 1991
        • Issue 21, Summer 1991
      • Back Issues 11-20 >
        • Issue 20, Spring 1991
        • Issue 19, Winter 1991
        • Issue 18, Fall 1990
        • Issue 17, Summer 1990
        • Issue 16, Spring 1990
        • Issue 15, Winter 1990
        • Issue 14, Fall 1989
        • Issue 13, Summer 1989
        • Issue 12, Spring 1989
        • Issue 11, Winter 1989
      • Back Issues 1-10 >
        • Issue 10, Fall 1988
        • Issue 9, Summer 1988
        • Issue 8, Spring 1988
        • Issue 7, Winter 1988
        • Issue 6, Fall 1987
        • Issue 5, Summer 1987
        • Issue 4, Spring 1987
        • Issue 3, Winter 1987
        • Issue 2, Fall 1986
        • Issue 1, Summer 1986
    • Digital Features
    • Links of Interest
    • Bonus Materials >
      • Adventures in Genealogy
      • Alabama Heritage Blog
      • Alabama Territory
      • Becoming Alabama >
        • Creek War Era
        • Civil War Era
        • Civil Rights Movement
      • From the Vault
      • History in Ruins
      • Places in Peril
      • Recipes
  • Online Store
    • Customer Service
  • About Us
    • Awards
    • Meet Our Team
    • News
    • Writer's Guidelines and Submissions
  • Search
  • Donate
Published by The University of Alabama,
The University of Alabama at Birmingham,
and the Alabama Department of Archives and History

Mint Julep: A Gentleman's Drink

7/11/2019

 
The year is 1831. The setting: the antebellum South. An early morning sun silhouettes the figures of two men, obviously gentlemen, standing back to back in an open field. A voice from the shadows calls, “One, two, three.” The men pace forward. “Five, six, seven.” Each man involuntarily tightens his grip on the dueling pistol carried at his side. “Nine, ten.” The two men pivot toward each other. They fire.
Ingredients for Mint Julep
(Photo by Robin McDonald)
Was the duel fought over a matter of honor, always a sensitive matter in the Old South, or a slight to a young woman’s reputation? No, nothing so mundane. This deadly confrontation resulted from one man’s fiery insistence that three spoons of sugar instead of two was the correct measurement for the perfect mint julep.

As bizarre as this story sounds today, the mint julep of yesterday was a serious matter indeed. An essential part of the South’s legendary hospitality, it was as identifiably southern as the first twelve notes of “Dixie.” Renowned chef James Beard called it “the most elegant drink in the world.” Perhaps because of its revered status, the drink has courted controversy through the centuries. As the story above illustrates, the blending of four simple ingredients—bourbon, water, sugar, and mint—roused strong emotions. Mint julep refinements were seemingly infinite. Sprinkle the sugar, or pour it as syrup? Shave the ice, or pummel it with a hammer? Crush the mint, bruise it, or simply allow it to fl oat whole in the mixture?

Like many American traditions, the mint julep borrowed from Old World models, added unique New World refinements, and resulted in a product that bore little resemblance to its forebears. In the 1600s, Samuel Pepys noted that he went “thence to my Lord’s … who gave me a case of good julep,”and Milton wrote of “this cordial julep.” “Julep” is a French word that can be traced to the Arabic “julab” and the Persian “gulab,” both meaning “rosewater.” The word originally signified any sweet drink, often a liquid mixed with medicine or used as a chaser after consuming unpleasant medicinal herbs.

Exactly when and where the first mint julep was mixed in America is unknown, although it is certain that the drink assumed an alcoholic character at an early date. The first may have been made from rum, long a staple in American colonies. But the drink that eventually charmed the South was unquestionably prepared with bourbon whiskey. This mellow, caramel-colored liquor is thought to have originated in Bourbon County, Kentucky, named after the French royal family. In 1789 a Baptist minister named Elijah Craig began distilling whiskey from corn mixed with a little rye, barley, and spring water. The harvest exceeded the needs of the farm that year, and converting the excess corn into whiskey made good economic sense, since the whiskey did not spoil and was easily transported.
Silver is the proper julep vessel, though the Kentucky Derby offers gold with a silver straw.
By the time the august Henry Clay dominated southern politics in the 1800s, when quadrilles and cotillions were the rage in southern ballrooms, tavern keepers typically devoted thirty minutes to the proper mixing of a single mint julep. The lengthy ritual began with boiling the sugar and water together to create a simple syrup before the actual mixing took place. Such was the care given to the drink of which Judge Soule Smith said in 1892, “[It] brings such solace to the soul. Even the nectar of the Gods is tame beside it.”

In time, southern plantation owners, as enthusiastic hosts as they were guests, developed faster, but no less exacting, formulas. A recipe supposedly by Henry Clay’s body servant was recently rescued during the restoration of an old house frequented by Clay. Incidentally, it was Senator Clay who introduced, to much acclaim, the mint julep to Washington society during his time in the capital. According to the notes, mint leaves, fresh and tender, were bruised lightly against the sides of a cup using the back of a spoon, the leaves removed, and the cup half-filled with cracked ice. Bourbon from oaken barrels was poured gently into the cup and allowed to slide slowly through the ice. In another container, granulated sugar was dissolved in chilled limestone water then poured over the ice. As beads of moisture gathered on the cup, the frosted brim was garnished with choice sprigs of mint, and the whole served with a courtly bow.

Today’s purists insist that the only proper container for the drink remains the silver vessel of yesteryear. First introduced in 1816, the cups were beakers with cylindrical bodies and slightly molded lips and bases. In addition to their durability and handsome good looks, the silver cups hold frost—an indispensable characteristic of the classic julep—better than glass, or, alas, plastic. Many southern families still display julep cups on their sideboards as highly prized and valuable antiques.

Southern author Irvin S. Cobb once said of the mint julep, “Who has not tasted one has lived in vain.” The controversy continues over the many recipes offered by bartenders, tavern keepers, maitre d’s, and self-anointed connoisseurs of the mixological arts in the South and elsewhere. Variations are endless, even if one excludes such unspeakable modern-day variations as those that call for crème de menthe in place of mint leaves, or gin or vodka instead of bourbon. For sheer eloquence, consider the cherished recipe left for posterity by the late Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Bruckner Jr., who fought at Okinawa and was the son of a Confederate general:
Go to a stream where cool, crystal-clear water bubbles from under a bank of dew-washed ferns. In a consecrated vessel, dip up a little water at the source. Follow the stream thru its banks of green moss and wild flowers until it broadens and trickles thru beds of mint growing in aromatic profusion and waving softly in the summer breeze. Gather the sweetest and tenderest shoots and gently carry them home. Go to the sideboard and select a decanter of … Bourbon distilled by a master hand, mellowed with age, yet still vigorous and inspiring. An ancestral sugar bowl, a row of silver goblets, some spoons and some ice.
The instructions continue for nearly five hundred words, setting forth the mixing process and ultimately the presentation ceremony in exquisite detail.

Unlike many old customs that have slipped into obscurity, the mint julep is still in the forefront of literature and movies, television, and song. Of course the mint julep was Gerald O’Hara’s favorite drink in Gone with the Wind. In The Great Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, and friends enjoy juleps at the Plaza Hotel. More recently, the mint julep was featured in an episode of Star Trek when Dr. McCoy prepared one during the episode “This Side of Paradise,” which aired on March 2, 1967. The drink is mentioned in the film Thank You for Smoking (2005) when the captain explains the secret for making the perfect mint julep, and later at his funeral, one is placed on his casket. Praises for the drink have been sung by such diverse musicians as Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Goldsboro, and the Beastie Boys.

It appears the mint julep is here to stay. No drink in history has been so debated, praised, and fought over. The duel mentioned at the beginning of this article is just one example, however extreme. Unfortunately, the names and outcome of that encounter have been lost to us, but perhaps it does not matter. The point is that the mint julep was a gentleman’s drink—invented, enjoyed, and defended by gentlemen. General Buckner referred to the mint julep as “a ceremony to be performed by a gentleman possessing a true sense of the artistic … and a proper appreciation of the occasion.” With that in mind, when you next order a mint julep, raise your silver cup to those impassioned gentlemen of yesteryear, in silent tribute and everlasting gratitude.

​This feature was previously published in Issue 91, Winter 2009.

For a mint julep recipe, visit the recipe portion of our website.

About the Author
Lisa Cahill is a freelance writer who was born in the South and now lives in New Mexico. She maintains strong ties with family and friends in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas.
Subscribe to Alabama Heritage

Comments are closed.

    From the Vault

    Read complete classic articles and departments featured in Alabama Heritage magazine in the past 35 years of publishing. You'll find in-depth features along with quirky and fun departments that cover the people, places, and events that make our state great!

    Read More From the Vault

    Archives

    January 2023
    August 2022
    June 2022
    February 2022
    June 2021
    May 2021
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    April 2015
    July 2014
    April 2014
    October 2013
    October 2012
    July 2012
    October 2009

    Categories

    All
    African Americans
    Agriculture
    Alabama
    Archeaology
    Architecture
    Avondale
    Avondale Zoo
    Birmingham
    Business
    Cathedral Caverns
    Civil War
    Constitution
    Cuba
    Episcopal Church
    Food
    Guntersville
    Hollywood
    Hunting
    Murder
    Mystery
    National Guard
    Native American
    Nursing
    Photography
    Poarch Creek Indians
    Politics
    Preservation
    Quilts
    Religion
    Revolutionary War
    Sand Mountain
    Whiskey
    Women
    WWI
    WWII

    RSS Feed

Online Store
​Customer Service
Meet Our Team
Board of Directors
Corporate Sponsors
News
Join Our Email List

Employment
UA Disclaimer
UA Privacy Policy ​
​Website comments or questions?  

Email ah.online@ua.edu
Published by The University of Alabama, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History
​Alabama Heritage
Box 870342
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
Local: (205) 348-7467
Toll-Free: (877) 925-2323
Fax: (205) 348-7473

alabama.heritage@ua.edu