Hair of the Dog is Cookthink’s Monday morning cocktail column by Rob Chirico, the author of the Field Guide to Cocktails. Read more about Rob here.

Two years ago when I was asked to create a recipe for the yearly New Orleans Tales of the Cocktail, I decided to risk tar and feathering from the approximately 300 or so people, mostly Southerners, who were going to sample my twist on that Derby Day classic, the Mint Julep. With some guests coming back for seconds and thirds, I knew that the only feathers I would encounter would be those in my pillow.

The key difference is not so much the use of bourbon and rye as it is the use of mint simple syrup. There is also a slash of soda, which actually makes it possible to have several drinks without falling off your horse.

What I learned while researching the venerable Julep is an eye-opener. If Freud is more talked about than read, the Mint Julep is more read about than drunk. One survey revealed that while 70% of non-Southern Americans had never tasted a Mint Julep, 73% of Southerners had never had one, either. And champions of the Julep protest that the drink stirred up by the vat-full on Kentucky Derby Day, which is on May 2nd this year, is a pale horse compared to the spirited classic.

Historically, the root of the julep is not Southern or American, but Arabic — julab for rosewater — and doctors called any beverage that disguised the taste of medicine to be a julep. Clearly my term jolie, the French for pretty, is far and away a more seductive name, but that’s just my opinion.

Regarding the traditional Julep, the decision to muddle or not to muddle, is one that could result in fisticuffs. Francis Parkinson Keyes recalled the last words of a Virginia gentleman: “Never insult a woman, never bring a horse into the house, and never crush the mint in a julep.” Using simple syrup is surely a genteel alternative. And do leave the horse outdoors.

Food Affinities: Despite the unseemly pairing of hot dogs with Mint Juleps at the Kentucky Derby (sold in equal proportions!), forgo the tube steak for applewood-smoked bacon bites or crispy fried oysters.

Recipe: Mint Jolie (Hair of the Dog)

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