G&T's replacement

The remains of my new favorite summer tipple. It used to be gin and tonics. My favorite gin is Tanqueray. I tried the Tanqueray 10 a year or two ago, but in side by side G&Ts, I couldn't really say one was head and shoulders above the other. So I go with the regular, not their premium. The 10 did have a fruiter taste when drinking it straight, but that's not how I usually drink it. Well this year in a quest to save some money I found a new summer drink. I have saved on buying tonic, saved on buying lemons and limes and saved on buying gin. A friend gave me a bottle of bourbon, I have mint growing in the yard and I had ice cubes in the freezer (our freezer is a frost free unit so sometimes we don't have ice cubes in the freezer) and so I made a mint julep. I mash a teeny handful of mint leaves with 2 teaspoons of powered sugar and 3 teaspoons of water, add ice and splash in some bourbon. Very refreshing. In actuality, my whiskey ain't bourbon, but a Tennessee Whiskey. So it doesn't meet some of the following criteria.

• at least 51% corn in the grain mixture
• aged at least 2 years
• in new, charred, knot free, grown south of the Mason-Dixon line white oak barrels
• some specified alcohol strength is required
• blah
• blah blah
• blah blah

The bourbon info is from The StraightBourbon FAQ. The site includes a BATF document detailing all the requirements. I'm guessin that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between bourbon whiskey and whiskey whiskey. If someone wants to donate a bottle of bourbon, we can do some side by side taste tests. Always my favorite kind of tests, besides the ones that pass when they are supposed to.

And yes, I did think of it while watching the Kentucky Derby.