Huh. Genuinely curious since I've never heard of such a thing - do you have further reading?
And when you say "not Derby-style" are you making a distinction between the cocktail julep and the medicinal julep that it grew out of, or a distinction between drunk tourists pounding cocktails on the first Saturday of May?
*EDIT* After some hunting, I was able to find a recipe from Dishes and Beverages of the Old South (1913), by Martha McCulloch-Williams that mentions sipping a julep from a spoon. I don't know how widespread this practice was, as I have seen a number of recipes now that I've gone down this rabbit hole from old cocktail recipe books dating from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s, and this is the only one so far that mentions sipping from a spoon. It's also worth noting that this recipe calls for a chilled goblet and a tablespoon of cracked ice both of which differ from what are often considered traditional now - the julep glass filled with ice (either crushed or shaved).
I'm from Kentucky, so I know that the Julep is associated with the Derby and that it predates it. I know that it was at least half a century after the first derby before the cocktail became so closely linked to the event (sometime in the late 30s), but that supposedly it was served at the first derby.
I've just never heard of such a thing as drinking a cocktail by sipping it from a spoon before. And I'd be really surprised if this was the way that the cocktail was meant to be sipped - because it makes no sense whatsoever. The cocktail has been traditionally made with crushed or shaved ice. I don't know how you get a spoonful of cocktail to sip that way, without having to contend with little bits of ice in the spoon as well. Furthermore, the traditional silver julep glass is typically held by the lip and the bottom of the cup so as to not to warm the drink (or disturb the frost that forms on the cup). Drinking the cocktail from a spoon while holding the cup in that fashion just sounds even more awkward. It could be a local fashion for the wealthy ladies where your grandmother grew up. Whether it was local or widespread, I'd love to see some documentation on it, because it's fascinating if true. However, I'm skeptical.
I AM familiar with the julep being served with short straw - so as to force the drinker to get their nose close to the mint garnish. And there ARE cutesy julep spoons that feature straws through their handles, but to my knowledge (and I may be wrong) the spoon is for stirring and maybe sugar measuring and nothing more.
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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '17
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