The Petal Pusher.
47 days out may not seem like “just around the corner” to you, but the run-up to The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports typically approaches Louisville at warp speed, with the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby set for May 7.
Many weeks of festivities preface those 120-odd seconds, and the common denominator of many seasonal celebrations is the mint julep. It’s a mixed drink with deep cultural connotations, as Creative Loafing Tampa Bay notes.
The word “julep” comes from the Arabic word meaning “rose water.” But the drink lost the roses and the water somewhere along the way. The exact recipe varies, but one definition from the 1968 Dictionary of Drink and Drinking says this of the julep:
“The exact composition and making of a julep is a subject upon which any two Americans (one of whom is not necessarily a true Southenah, sah) are prepared to do verbal battle instanter.”
Every...
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