Why it works: Syrup and mint work together. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 193 recipes. The science ↓
Mint Julep
Ingredients
Directions
In a glass, muddle the mint leaves with the simple syrup to release the oils.
Fill the glass with crushed ice.
Pour the bourbon over the ice.
Stir gently to combine.
Garnish with a sprig of mint.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Syrup + minttop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together193 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bourbon
- Provides the spirit base and the main whiskey flavor of the drink.
- Mint leaves
- Release aromatic oils when muddled, giving the drink its fresh mint aroma.
- Simple syrup
- Adds sweetness and helps draw oils out of the muddled mint.
The step that matters
Muddling the mint. Pressing the leaves gently with sugar syrup releases essential oils for aroma. Pressing too hard tears the leaves and releases bitter chlorophyll, which makes the drink taste grassy.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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