This is an involved recipe. There are so many steps! But, the reason for this is that the original Mint Julep (with bourbon, of course) is filled with so many flavors I love, and those flavors are difficult to replicate in a drink without alcohol, like this one. So, here is my attempt at those flavors, with lots of help from the version of the Julep created by Coppercraft Distillery in a spring festival kind of way.
Tulip Julep (Mocktail)
Serves 20 (in a 10-ounce rocks glass filled halfway with ice)
8 cups of black tea with mint
5 English tea bags
6 sprigs mint
2 ½ cups vanilla simple syrup (recipe following)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Blackberry Shrub (recipe following)
2 cups frozen blackberries, whole
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, whole
2 teaspoons coarse ground black peppercorns
2 cups apple cider vinegar
3 ½ cups sparkling water
1 cup mint leaves, packed
Make the tea:
Steep tea bags in 8 cups of boiling water.
Remove tea bags and throw in 6 sprigs of mint.
Cool.
Remove mint before mixing tea into the drink.
Make the vanilla syrup:
In a saucepan, combine sugar and water. Boil on medium heat for one minute.
Turn off heat and add vanilla.
Cool.
Make the Blackberry Shrub:
Place frozen blackberries in a quart Mason jar with 2 cups of sugar, peppercorns, and ground pepper. Add apple cider vinegar and let sit in the refrigerator for two days.
Fine strain the mixture with a mesh sieve into a clean container, discarding solids. You will end up with 3 cups of Blackberry Shrub concentrate.
Make the cocktail:
In a gallon jug, combine minted black tea and blackberry shrub.
Place 1 cup of the mint leaves (off the stem) in a 4-cup measuring cup and pour vanilla syrup over that. Pound this mixture for one minute with the back of your spoon to release some minty juices.
Pour that mixture in the gallon cocktail mix, cover, and shake to combine.
Immediately before serving, add 3 ½ cups sparkling water to the Julep and serve with lots of ice on the side.
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Purchase Lark Cocktails, which features dozens of recipes just like this one!
