Minty Juleps

Grandson Nathaniel (16) found a video showing how to make a mint julep. He showed it to me, knowing we had a healthy bed of mint plants near the back porch. The video showed a man pulverizing the leaves with a little sugar using a cocktail muddler. Not being drinkers, we didn’t have a muddler, but we did have my grandfather’s mortar and pestle.

Granddaddy was born about 1875. He was one of seven or eight children from a family not blessed with worldly goods. I have no idea what jobs he may have had until the prelude to this story. He was a tinsmith working with his uncle. I think he was in his late 20’s, certainly not a mere youth. He sold his part of the business and presented himself at Vanderbilt in Nashville, telling the dean he wanted to become a dentist.

The dean quickly set him straight, that it was impossible. Granddaddy said, “Please let me explain. I’ve sold my business, and I can’t go back.”

That old defender of standards said he couldn’t become a student just because he wanted to. For a starter, he needed pre-med courses. Granddaddy’s highest academic achievement was his graduation from the 8^th grade. After much pleading on Granddaddy’s part, the dean told him, “I will let you enroll, but one wrong step and you are out.”

The only proof I have that he became a dentist is a scanned copy of the announcement of the partnership with my dad, probably from 1938, the year Dad graduated from dental school.

Announcement of Maclin dental partnership  [This did not show in the preview, but clicking on it brought it up.]

Margaret, my dad’s dental assistant, saved the mortar and pestle for me after the practice was sold. As you can understand, this is very precious to me. I can imagine Granddaddy using it in the lab. Way back then dentists did most, if not all, of their lab work themselves. Nathaniel used it to crush mint leaves.

I called the drink a Minty Julep because it had no alcohol in it. We enjoyed our handcrafted drinks on the porch, sipping them slowly on a hot summer day. Ummmm!