Cherry Mint Julep

Besides “Cherries!,” another exciting thing about cherry season is the opportunity to make this cherry mint julep recipe: a blend of bourbon, cherries, mint, simple syrup and crushed ice. All of the ingredients together make for a scrumptious cocktail.

‘Tis the (cherry) season

I love cherries. I look forward to cherry season all year and I’m always sad to see it end. I eat them as often as I can while they’re good.

This year, ever since cherry season rolled around I’ve been thinking, ‘Where can I use cherries?’

Cherries in puff pastry? Cheery Savory Cherry Cheese Tart!

Cherries in the sangria? Done.

Hmmm, …Cherry margarita? Made it.

Then I thought, ‘Hey, cherries pair well with bourbon, why not add them to the mint julep?’

Brilliant!

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Helpful tips

• I considered muddling the cherries with the mint and simple syrup but I wanted to take this cocktail to another level so I decided to blend them with the ice. You can choose what you’d like to do, but blending is fun.
• Use the best bourbon you can afford. Since bourbon is the main ingredient and you are not adding a fruit juice, you will be able to taste the difference. The better the bourbon, the smoother the cocktail. Lower quality bourbon will be more harsh.
• Use fresh mint. You can find it in little plastic containers in the produce section or if you’re lucky, in your backyard garden.
• Make your own simple syrup as it is super easy and more cost effective.  Here’s how: place 1 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of water in a sauce pan over medium heat until the sugar melts. Let simmer for 5 minutes before you remove it from the heat, allow to cool, and store in an air tight bottle.
• Simple sugar can last for months in your liquor cabinet.
• If you don’t have a muddler, you can use the back of a long wooden spoon.

How to make the cherry mint julep

Pre-pre-step

Get your mint julep cups, which are usually metal cups. I am choosing to show the cocktail in both the classic cup and a glass so you can see how pretty it is.

Get a muddler or long wooden spoon.

For the garnishes, gather six leaves of mint and six pitted cherries.

Pre-step

Place all your cherries in a colander, run cold water over them and swish your hands around them. Remove stems and de-pit them.  I use this tool to pit cherries.

Step one

Gather the rest of the ingredients – bourbon, cherries, mint, simple syrup and ice.

Step two

Add 10 mint leaves and .50 ounce of simple syrup to each glass/cup. Muddle until you can smell the mint’s fragrance without sticking your nose in the glasses.

Step three

Put some ice in the blender and place 10 cherries on top.  Don’t use too many cherries or the ice will get too slushy.

Step four

Cap the blender and pulse the contents until they’re mixed and crushed, but not as finely as snow.

Step five

Spoon the cherry ice into the glasses and measure 4 ounces of bourbon – 2 ounces per cup.

Step six

Pour two ounces of bourbon into each cup/glass.

Step seven

Add 3 mint leaves and 3 cherries to each cup.  I place a metal straw in the cup.

See how that bourbon is marrying that cherry slush? It’s love at first sight.

Let’s look at a vertical view. Below, I serve it in a double old-fashioned glass so you can see the beauty of the drink.

YUM!

Now, the overhead view.

I gave Christopher a sip, as I do all of my concoctions, and he said, “I could get used to bourbon.”

High praise indeed.

I hope you enjoyed this cherry mint julep recipe!

And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love the know what you thought about it in the comments below.  I love hearing from you!  You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!

First published in July of 2016.