Mint Julep

"Juleps" have likely been around for a couple of centuries in one form or another, but the "Mint Julep" drink known to us for more than one hundred years is made with bourbon whiskey, a beverage strongly tied to the state of Kentucky. No question the name of the whiskey traces back to the former ruling family of France, the Bourbons, whose King Louis XVI provided aid to the American colonies in their fight for independence from Britain. The likely direct source of the name for the whiskey is Bourbon County, Kentucky, itself named for the French family. "Mint Juleps" have long been served at the famous "Kentucky Derby" horse race held at Churchill Downs in the city of Louisville, named after Louis XVI. "Mint Juleps" are often served in metal cups, where they are filled with lots of ice (usually crushed ice) and allowed to sit until the cup is well chilled or frosted before serving.    

Ingredients (per drink):

2 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon sugar (or simple syrup*)
6 to 8 mint leaves (not tiny leaves)
ice
optional: bitters
sprig of mint for garnish

Gently rub the mint leaves together between your hands (this begins to release the mint flavor). Add the leaves to a cocktail glass, then add the sugar and bourbon (and a couple of drops of bitters, if you'd like). Mix to dissolve the sugar, then add lots of ice cubes or crushed ice. Naturally, if you use simple syrup, you needn't worry about dissolving the sugar. Let the drink sit for a couple of minutes until well chilled from the ice.  

* Simple syrup is often used to sweeten drinks in place of actually using dry sugar, which may not always dissolve completely. To make simple syrup: use one part sugar (1/2 cup, for example) mixed into an equal amount of water (1/2 cup) in a pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool before using.   

WORD HISTORY:
Julep-While the use of this word is relatively modern, the origin of this compound word is truly ancient. The first part of the word is distantly related to "rose," a word borrowed from Latin.^ The ultimate origin of the first part is uncertain, but it seems to trace back to Old Iranian "urda,"^^ meaning "flower" and "rose" (the flowering plant). This later gave transliterated Persian, another Indo European language, "gul" (rose). The second part of "julep" goes back to Indo European "ap/ep," which was another term for "water," often with the underlying meaning, "source of water" in some Indo European languages, words derived from it in several languages mean, "river," "channel or ditch for irrigation," "spring," "stream." This gave Persian "ap" (water), which was coupled in Persian with the above word "gul," as "gulab," meaning, "rosewater" (made by soaking rose petals in water), and the term was borrowed by Arabic as transliterated "julab," which was borrowed by Latin as "julapium" (rosewater, drink used for stomach ailments) and this passed to Old French as "julep," with the same meanings. English borrowed the word circa 1400 meaning, "sweet drink used as medicine, or used to make other medicines palatable." By the late 1700s the term was being used by some Americans for "a sweet alcoholic beverage (then usually made with rum or brandy) and herbs."  

^ "Rose" is a word with a complex history. While English borrowed it from Latin ("perhaps" from Christian monks or other religious personnel?), it is NOT a Latin-derived word, but rather a borrowing by Latin.

^^ Old Iranian was an Indo European language.     

Old Fashioned Cocktail

Exactly where and when the Old Fashioned Cocktail was invented is really unknown, although there are some references that would date it to "at least" the early 1800s. It is possible, or perhaps even likely, that the bourbon element was added in Louisville, Kentucky in the 1880s, as prior to that time, other types of alcohol were included in cocktails with similar ingredients. Anyway, in more modern times rye whiskey or bourbon whiskey are often used, but you can also give brandy a try. The most difficult thing about this cocktail is muddling the sugar to get it dissolved, and this can take a minute. Of course, if you have "bar sugar;" that is, very fine sugar, it will naturally dissolve more easily, but I'm guessing most people do NOT have this on hand. 

Ingredients (per drink):

2 ounces rye or bourbon whiskey
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 dashes angostura bitters
(optional) couple of drops of water
1/2 ounce triple sec or curaçao
1 orange wedge for garnish 
1 maraschino cherry for garnish
ice (not too many/much ice)

Muddle the sugar and bitters well in a rocks/old fashioned glass until the sugar is dissolved (add a drop or two of water to help the process, if needed). (NOTE: If you like a sweeter drink, use 1/2 teaspoon sugar, but also add a few drops of water, then muddle well to dissolve the sugar.) Add the whiskey and triple sec, then stir well to mix. Add some ice and garnish with an orange wedge (give the orange wedge a little squeeze to let a few drops of the juice get into the cocktail) and maraschino cherry. The glass does NOT have to be completely filled. I recall a mixologist (a mixer of cocktails and drinks) from about 35 years ago who always said to me, "Less ice is better in an Old Fashioned." 

WORD HISTORY:
Muddle-This word is closely related to "mud," a word from Germanic. "Muddle" appears in English circa 1600, with the sense, "bathe or roll in the mud," thus the progressive development meanings, "make water muddy or unclear," thus, "to make something unclear, to make something confusing," but also simply, "to mix together well," and later, the secondary meaning of, "make a mess of something" (second half of the 1800s?). "Muddle" could simply be the extension of English "mud" through the influence of close relatives Dutch ("moddelen," meaning, "to make water muddy") and/or Low German or Rhenish German dialect "muddele" (meaning, "to stir up or churn up mud or sediment in water, thus making it unclear"),^ or it could be a direct borrowing from one of these words.  

^ Rhenish German dialect is part of the larger regional dialect "Ripuarian" (German: Ripuarisch), which goes back to the Germanic Ripuarian Franks, also called Rhine Franks, who were a part of the larger Germanic tribe the Franks. The dialect is something of a mixture of High German and Low German, although the dialect variations are often referred to in German as "Platt" (literally "flat," in English; thus, "low"). The best known of this dialect's variations is likely "Kölsch," the dialect of Cologne, followed by "Öcher," the dialect of Aachen (a German cousin's former girlfriend is from Aachen, and she can also 'get the gist' of a lot of Dutch; the German dialects in that overall area and Dutch are all from Frankish; thus they are "similar" (I didn't say "the same").