Cocktail of the Moment! The Prescription Julep
posted on 30 April 2010 by tonyWelcome to Derby Day 2010 and the first Cocktail of the Moment! between dTws and The Boston Shaker.
Adam and I unearthed this wonder from Imbibe!, by David Wondrich. If you’re unfamiliar with this particular tome, change that immediately. It will change your life, like that Shins song, but for real. A little more research easily found Paul Clarke’s wonderful entry at The Cocktail Chronicles.
A quoted blend of the two recipes is below below. {editor’s note: please don’t sue us}
Our thoughts are shown inside the [ ] & the links head you over to The Boston Shaker’s site in case you’re curious what this stuff is or you’re in need of the tools to make this delectable cocktail.
From Imbibe!:
“Prescription Julep
This little piece of medical humor comes from “A Winter in the South,” a serial Harper’s Monthly ran in 1857.[…]Cognac and rye whiskey are a marriage made in heaven, the cognac mellowing the rye and the rye adding spice to the cognac.
The doctor accordingly wrote out a prescription for the case, as follows:
2 tsp. sugar and 1/2 ounce water (or, a couple of teaspoons of simple or gomme/gum, to taste)” [Paul recommended Gum syrup... and after making it this way we do too.]
“1 1/2 oz. Strong Cognac
1/2 oz. Spirits of Rye
Mint Leaves” [Paul Clarke recommends 8-10]
From The Cocktail Chronicles:
“1. In a glass or julep cup, add sugar & water and stir to mix (or add your syrup).
2. [Using a muddler] Very gently press your mint leaves — for the love of all that is good, boozy and holy, do NOT grind them into a paste — and withdraw them if you like, or gently nestle them in the bottom of the glass.” [Thank you Paul - ABSOLUTELY right. Smashing the mint up releases chlorophyll, which is bitter. You just want to tap, tap, tap out the oils into the sugar mixture.]
“3. Add the cognac and whiskey, give a slight stir (again avoid that impulse to smash the sh*t out of the leaves — seriously, you’ll thank me for this), then pack the glass with fine-crushed ice.” [You can crush ice using a towel and a hammer or do what the pros do and use an ice crusher or smack the junk out of it in an ice crushing bag.]
4. “Give a few light stirs with a bar spoon to help raise the frost, add more ice, and festoon with a fresh mint sprig, for aromatics.”
5. [As Paul mentions, a dash of Appleton Extra rum over the top of the ice is a splendid touch. Sip from a metal straw if you have 'em, if not - trim a standard straw to about an nice above the top of the cup so you can smell the mint as you sip.]
And back to Imbibe!:
“To quote the original Harper’s Monthly - “Repeat dose three or four times a say until cold weather. - Quackenboss, M.D.”
Armed with this back-story and a little research, we set out to make a couple of these on our own. Drinks, however, are always more fun with friends, and since The Shaker is pretty much ground zero for every cocktail geek in the city, we quickly turned out two person experiment into a five person mini-event. Joined by the charming Fredrick and Andrea of Cocktail Virgin (which everyone should be reading) and C. Eslao, Bostonist correspondent and all around great person, we embarked upon our beverage journey.
While Fred, a cocktail scientist in my estimation, measured out spirits and gently muddled some mint, the rest of us crushed the hell out of some ice (Fredrick was in on this too, the man was everywhere), trimmed some straws and generally goofed off. Suddenly, the magic moment was upon us, and Prescription Juleps were ready all around.
The verdict? Sayeth Adam: “Doesn’t suck.” I tended to agree. The natural sweetness of cognac, combined with gum syrup, might have been overwhelming, but the mintiness of the mint and spiciness of rye saved the day. It was an excellent alternative to the traditional mint julep and a really enjoyable beverage to sip while chatting with friends, laughing and having inappropriate discussions.
Furthermore, it is exciting to know that Juleps don’t have to be limited to the standard Mint. Imbibe! lists two alternatives including this one, and countless other variants exist. With a little exploration, this classic drink style easily moves out of “reserved for the Kentucky Derby” to “we should be drinking these all the time”. I believe we’ll be drinking this version all summer.
Also, on a personal note, I like that juleps are pretty much booze snow cones. A hearty thumbs up all around.
-Out.
photo care of: C. Fernsebner
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Every month or so, Adam of The Boston Shaker and Tony of dTws will put their slightly muddled heads together to bring you a cocktail you may never have had, relevant to the time they manage to release it. With Adam’s encyclodpedic knowledge of cocktails and Tony’s blind drunk enthusiasm, this serial should manage to educate and entertain, while also getting you liquored up. Read More >
Tags: cocktails, cognac, drink recipes, rye, the boston shaker, whiskey
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This coming Monday, I will be at Redbones from 5-7 tasting 8 different American whiskies, 6 bourbons and 2 ryes respectively. If you’ve got the 12 bucks to get in the door and care to learn about how whiskey is distilled and it’s history in the States, I highly recommend coming. Redbones will be putting out some eats, and I think it’ll be a grand old time. The full list of what I’ll be tasting is as follows: