Southern Frontier

Juleps have long been a great refreshing drink for the warmer climates, and a great tipple for bringing people together. You only need to look to The Kentucky Derby, with the Mint Julep as its official drink. My inspiration, being a lover of all things American whiskey, was to create a julep-style drink that’s easy to pre-batch and store, and even easier to prepare. This drink, once batched, can be used for a single serve, or if you’re having friends over, pitchers can be made and placed in the centre to share, much like a punch bowl would.

Credit: Benito Martin

• serves

  16

• prep

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 12 ripe peaches, halved and stones removed
• 700 ml bourbon
• 200 ml crème de pêche (peach liqueur)
• 300 ml brewed black tea, cooled to room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean (split lengthways)
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 1 tbsp ground allspice
• mint sprigs, to garnish

Cooling time 20 minutes

You’ll need to begin this recipe at least 1 week ahead.

Instructions

Arrange the peach halves in a 2 litre-capacity jar with a tight-fitting lid. Pour in the bourbon, tea and peach liqueur and add the vanilla bean halves and spices. Refrigerate for 1 week. After a week, strain and discard the solids. Bottle the infused bourbon and refrigerate until required.

To serve, add 75 ml infused bourbon over crushed ice in a tumbler and lightly swizzle. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig.

Note

• I prefer to use Buffalo Trace Bourbon (the house pour at The Gresham and the world’s greatest distillery!) and Joseph Catron Crème de Pêche.

You’ll find Ryan Lane behind the bar at The Gresham.

Photography by Benito Martin. Styling by Lynsey Fryers.

Good One stools from Made by Tait. Folding stool with Ara rouge sling from Ici et la. Weck glass jar from The Chef and The Cook. Stainless steel jigger from Plenty.

Serve this julep-inspired tipple with baked sweet potato fries. Like to keep your options open? Check out our snacks recipe collection here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.