BYCU

Man, I really, really wish I liked bourbon and whiskey:

Southern writer Walker Percy insisted that a good julep should hold at least 5 ounces of bourbon: 5 ounces bourbon/Several sprigs fresh spearmint/4 to 5 tablespoons superfine sugar/Crushed ice . . . Into a silver julep cup, a highball glass, or a Mason jar, press 2 or 3 tablespoons of superfine sugar together with a very small quantity of water, just enough to make a sugary paste. Add a layer of fresh spearmint leaves. Press them gently with a muddler or wooden spoon, but do not smash them. Pile on a layer of fresh finely crushed ice. Mr. Percy prefers that you reduce the ice to powder by wrapping it in a dry towel and banging it with a wooden mallet. To that layer, add a fine sprinkling of sugar and a few more mint leaves that you have spanked, but not crushed, by clapping them loudly between your hands

Amy Stewart, The Drunken Botanist.

A few simple Google searches reveal that there is also a thing known as a "gin julep" and some heretics actually make the mint julep with vodka. I might have to try it next spring when my mint pops back up (which is assuredly will, even though I eradicated 80% of it last fall to make room for my fall kale planting).