Every year I try making a Mint Julep around the time of the Kentucky Derby. And every year I realize, again, that I don’t like them. This year I went out for a Mint Julep, invited to meet Hollis Bulleit at a party she was giving for the occasion, on the patio at Boston’s Intercontinental Hotel . Normally a lovely space overlooking the Bay, on this early May afternoon it had a real Arctic wind coming in off the ocean.
By the time I got there, Hollis had retreated inside the Bulleit Woody Tailgate Trailer, where she was holding court. While I waited for my husband to get me a Mint Julep – yes I was determined to try again! – I chatted with Holllis, who told me she had been working with her father on the concept and marketing of Bulleit Bourbon since she was a teenager.
The Mint Julep showed up, I sipped it – and liked it! Huddling together to create a windblock, we drank our cocktails, then departed the frozen patio for dinner with friends. It wasn’t until I was thawing out at a warm restaurant that I realized I hadn’t asked Hollis for the recipe. Luckily I found it on the website: click HERE for the Bullet Mint Julep Recipe.
