Cool Down During Southern Summer

The temperature quickly warms here in the South, but we-all have lots of ways to cool down. If you're thinking about sitting on the porch, watching life go by while fanning yourself with one of those "church fans," well, that's one way. Another way is to have a large glass filled with ice and your favorite libation. We like a tall glass of iced tea, sweet of course, but there are other favorites as well. That brings me to the source of my post.
"Jeff" emailed me asking about some Mint Julep mix that he had purchased somewhere in Natchez. Could they ship more to him, and how much would it cost, he asked. While I was happy to ask the local merchant about this, I also gave Jeff a recipe - one of many I know of - so he could make his own. It's not particularly difficult, but depending on your geographical area you may not have a ready supply of mint leaves. If you can get those, here's the recipe as I told it to him:

-Take a few leaves of mint (it grows like crazy here) and put them in the bottom of a tall glass. A really good julep goes in a pewter cup to keep it cold.
-Muddle the leaves with some simple syrup. Simple syrup is just sugar water cooked down a bit to make it concentrated - syrupy.
-FILL the glass with crushed, or better yet - shaved, ice.
-Pour at least 2 ounces of good whiskey over the ice.
-Stir gently so you mix the ingredients without melting too much ice.
-Sip like a gentleman (or a lady).
Of course, you can play with the amounts of the different ingredients to suit your own taste. Some like more mint, some like more sugar. I like more whiskey.
In the way of background, allow me to offer a few explanations of the procedure:

• "Muddling" is just kind of crushing the leaves and mixing them so the flavor comes out without leaving too many tiny green specks all in your drink.


• Before the days of refrigerators, you can imagine that ice was precious. The pewter cup kept your drink cold and let the ice slowly dilute the drink.


• Some have made the julep with Southern Comfort. I prefer the taste of good whiskey instead.


• Some cheat and make their julep with Creme de Menthe. I suppose that in a pinch I'd understand that, but my first response would be "Yechhhhh!"

Be aware that some folks take such a liking to mint juleps that they find themselves spending a lot of time sipping one under the oak tree, watching other people work, making their womenfolk wear big hats and dresses, and calling their dog "Beauregard."

You've been warned.