Mint Julep

Ingredients

• 4 lumps sugar
• 0.5 gobletful water
• 1 tablespoon cracked ice
• mint
• whiskey or brandy
• 1 zest lemon
• 1 fresh ripe strawberry, cherry, or slice of red peach

Instructions

1. Prepare the syrup at least six hours ahead: place sugar lumps and cold water in a clean fruit jar and set on ice until the sugar is fully dissolved.
2. Wash the mint very clean, handling it with care not to bruise it, and lay it in a clean cloth on ice to chill. Chill the spirits likewise. Chill the goblets thoroughly.
3. At serving time, rub a lemon zest around the rim of each chilled goblet. Half fill each goblet with the dissolved sugar mixture. Add a tablespoonful of cracked ice. Stand sprigs of mint thickly all around the rim of the goblet. Set the goblets in a tray, then fill up with the whiskey or brandy (or both mixed), choosing brands that blend smoothly.
4. Drop in the middle a fresh ripe strawberry, cherry, or slice of red peach if desired, though this is optional. Serve at once with spoons in the goblets rather than straws—the dipping and sipping motion releases more of the mint-essence, and the clinking of the spoons is nearly as refreshing as the tinkle of the ice. Never bruise the mint, or it will give an acrid flavor.