The Boy and His Poison: The Caged Peach and Mint Julep

The lengths I'll go to in order to hunt out a good cocktail for my readers. This week I have mostly been incarcerated.

Don't get me wrong… it was a self imposed stint of 5-star incarceration but why let trivialities get in the way of a good story. I had a few days off and decided to head West to Oxford for a bit of R&R. I'd been meaning to check out Malmaison's converted former prison for a while so I took the opportunity to also explore the bar menu for a bit of inspiration. What I found was the peach and mint julep, an incredible invigoration of a classic recipe with the addition of one simple ingredient that turns a heavy dry classic cocktail into a sumptuous and fruity sipping affair. A train ride and a little tweaking later, let me present to you the Caged Peach and Mint Julep.

You'll need:

• 50ml of good bourbon (Four Roses, Makers Mark or Bullit)
• 50ml of peach puree
• 25ml of lemon juice
• 25ml of King's Ginger (optional)
• 3 sprigs of mint
• Ginger beer

For the peach puree
You can either pick this up from Amazon (and it's a great ingredient to have lying around for bellinis), or make it by blending a can of peach segments in syrup.

Then shake it

1. Muddle the peach puree with two of the mint sprigs in the base of a shaker.
2. Add the bourbon and lemon juice (with the King's Ginger if you have any to hand).
3. Stir for a few seconds and pour into a tumbler or preferably an Old Fashioned glass and top with ice until approximately 2/3 full.
4. Top up with ginger beer and garnish with a mint sprig.