Make a Batch of Freezer-Door Mint Juleps for Kentucky Derby Day

I don’t know much about horse racing, but I love a themed beverage, and (I’ve heard) it just isn’t Kentucky Derby Day without a mint julep. It’s not a complicated beverage, but even the simplest of tasks can become needlessly challenging after a julep or two.

Luckily, there is an elegant way to make sure you have mint juleps at the ready, all day long. Just make a big batch and store them in the freezer.

Brought to us by our editorial director J.M. Hirsch, the concept is this: Take a full bottle of bourbon, pour off just enough to make room for the mint and sugar syrup, then build your julep right in the bottle. Place in the freezer to chill until ready to serve.

Mint Julep

Ingredients:

• 1 750-milliliter bottle of of bourbon
• 2 cups fresh mint
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• Enough water to just cover the mint

Instructions:

Pour out 3 1/4 ounces of bourbon from the bottle. Simmer the mint, sugar, and water, tasting after a couple of minutes. Once the syrup has been infused with mint flavor, cool and strain. Add 3 ounces of the mixture to the remaining 22 ounces of bourbon. Shake well and chill in the freezer. Serve over crushed ice and garnish with fresh mint.

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Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.