julep — The Cocktails — Beyond Reproach

3 ounces brandy or cognac
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 to 2 ounces club soda, to taste
Orange slices and seasonal berries, for garnish

Line an old-fashioned glass with orange slices and fill with crushed ice, Then pour in brandy and simple syrup. Stir to combine, and top with soda. Add the fruit & berry garnishes (skewered or piled on top of the ice).
Serve with a straw and enjoy.

Cobblers became popular toward the end of the 1830s, around the same time that the ice trade in the US was expanding, making it easier to create cocktails with loads of ice. Much like a julep, cobblers call for crushed ice and plenty of it.
In fact, no one is exactly certain where the name cobbler comes from, but according to David Wondrich, it may have something to do with the “cobbles” of ice the cocktail is built on.

Originally cobblers were always made with wine or fortified wine. The sherry cobbler was definitely the most popular variety, but in Jerry Thomas’ 1862 bartenders guide he also includes recipes for a Catawba wine cobbler, a claret cobbler, a Hock cobbler (British term for German white wine) and a sauterne cobbler.

But sometimes cobblers were made with stronger spirits. Jerry Thomas also included a whiskey cobbler recipe in his book, and according to David Wondrich, Brandy cobblers were also super popular in the 1850s, especially in New York.

Once you have crushed ice and sliced citrus, building a cobbler is very easy to do. The one thing to keep in mind though is that Jerry Thomas insists that special attention needs to be paid to how it’s presented.

“The cobbler does not require much skill in compounding, but to make it acceptable to the eye, as well as to the palate, it is necessary to display some taste in ornamenting the glass after the beverage is made.” He even includes an illustration of how a cobbler should look.

1 tablespoon (1/2 oz) white sugar
1/2 oz water
5-6 mint leaves (plus more for garnish)
2 ounces cognac
1/2 ounce rye
Garnish: mint sprig and fresh seasonal berries

Add sugar and water to the bottom of a rocks glass or julep cup and stir to start dissolving. Add 5 to 6 mint leaves and gently press with a muddler to release their oils (don’t over-crush them or they can get bitter).

Fill the glass with finely crushed ice and add cognac & rye. Stir to combine and top with more crushed ice to mound over top. Garnish with a bright green sprig of mint leaves, and if desired, a few fresh raspberries or blackberries. Serve with a straw.

The Prescription Julep was created in 1857, and according to cocktail historian David Wondrich, it’s one of the tastiest mint julep recipes he knows.

Rather than using the traditional bourbon whiskey, this julep recipe calls for a mix of cognac and rye whiskey. Wondrich says this combination is “a marriage made in heaven, the cognac mellowing the rye and the rye adding spice to the cognac.” While the used of Cognac & Rye may seem unusual, back in the Julep’s heyday in the mid 1800s, there were several variations, some even using gin or fortified wines like sherry or madeira.

This recipe came from a tongue-in-cheek medical joke made in 1857 in Harper’s Monthly, in a serial called “A Winter in the South”. In it, one doctor “Quackenboss” writes out a prescription, in Latin medical abbreviations, for this julep recipe. When translated into English, the prescription calls for white sugar, spring water, strong cognac, spirits of rye, mint leaves, and powdered ice.

At the bottom of the prescription, he adds a recommendation for dosage,
“Repeat dose three or four times a day until cold weather.”
“Quackenboss, M.D.”

Wondrich recommends using good, old cognac, since it’s the main base spirit, but says there’s no reason to splurge on the rye which is really just there to spice up the cognac. The original recipe doesn’t call for it, but he also recommends topping the prescription julep with some aged Jamaican rum and garnishing with a few fresh raspberries or blackberries.