Go Back
No ratings yet

Cranberry Mint Julep

Yield: serves 1, multiply as needed
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Servings: 1

Ingredients

  • 8 fresh mint leaves
  • 2 sugar cubes (2 teaspoon granulated sugar) , or more if you prefer
  • 1 oz (2 Tbsp) cranberry syrup, recipe follows
  • crushed ice, as needed
  • 2 ½ oz (5 Tbsp) bourbon of choice

Cranberry Syrup:

  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries (4 oz)
  • finely grated zest from half a lime

Instructions

  • Place mint leaves and sugar cubes in a glass.
  • Add 1/2 oz (1 tbsp) cranberry syrup and muddle everything together until sugar cubes have dissolved.
  • Fill glass with crushed ice.  Add bourbon.  (DO NOT use large ice cubes, you want CRUSHED ice.  The drink is very strong and potent.  It needs the crushed ice to dilute drink slightly.)  Use a spoon to gently stir mixture together.
  • Add additional crushed ice.  Add remaining 1/2 oz (1 tbsp) of cranberry syrup.  Garnish drink with mint leaves and fresh cranberries.

Cranberry Syrup:

  • In a small sauce pot, bring water and sugar to a boil. Add cranberries and lime zest. Over medium-high heat, cook mixture for 3-5 minutes until cranberries begin bursting open. Once all the cranberries have burst, remove from heat.  (Do not overcook, you don’t want the cranberries to turn to mush.)
  • Let mixture cool to room temperature. Transfer to a container with a lid, let chill in the fridge until mixture is cold.
  • Remove mixture from fridge and strain. At this point the syrup should have thicken. Strain out and discard cranberries (or save to snack on!).  Return cranberry syrup to fridge until ready to use.

Notes

  • 1 sugar cube is roughly equal to 1 teaspoon granulated sugar