For those of you who know my husband, RP, you know that he appreciates a good cocktail.  He actually appreciates all cocktails.  They don’t have to be good.

RP had a stroke of genius for this year’s Gold Cup.  He was going to take Jello shots to a new level and stray from the tried-and-true vodka and Jell-O packet combination.  Lord knows that recipe can go terribly wrong and you end up with Dixie cups filled with brightly colored shots that taste like kerosene.

RP makes a mean mint julep.  He was hoping to combine his love of juleps and childhood memories of Knox blocks.  After a little Google searching he found recipe inspiration from the Friday Football Foodie, Sarah Sprauge, and set to work creating the perfect mint julep blocks.

RP didn’t follow Sarah’s recipe exactly (because we were making so many) but he followed her procedure.

Boiled water, sugar and mint

Strain the mint

Add bourbon and gelatin.  Stir the gelatin constantly as you pour each packet in so that the gelatin dissolves evenly.  If you ask your spouse to pose while pouring, they may get cranky.

Pour into an 8×8 pan and let set in fridge.  We let them set overnight before cutting.

Cut into cubes

Keep cool before serving.  Unfortunately, you can’t see them, but they are resting comfortably on ice in the madras drink tub.  They were tasty and our fellow tailgaters, as well as our judges, loved them.

Mint Julep Shot Blocks Recipe (inspired by The Friday Football Foodie)

You need:
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of water
1 cup of bourbon (doesn’t need to be fancy – you’ll boil it)
2 packets of unflavored gelatin
3 bunches of mint (two for the simple syrup and one if you want to garnish)
Double, triple, quadruple this recipe depending on the size of your crowd

Heat the water and the sugar over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Then add 2 bunches of mint leaves to the syrup.  Boil for two to three minutes and strain out the mint.  Reduce heat to low and allow to cool slightly.  Slowly stir two packets of unflavored gelatin into 1 cup of bourbon.  Combine with the mint simple syrup and stir over low heat and stir over low heat for 3-5 minutes until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Pour into a 8×8 pan and place in the refrigerator until set.  Cut into cubes and keep chilled until serving.

We haven’t tried yet, but Sarah says you can make any cocktail into a shot block if you follow the 1 cup of liquid to 1 packet of unflavored gelatin, with the desired size of mix being 2-3 cups of liquid.

This is 1,000 times more classy than bright orange and green shots, infinitely more tasty and equally as fun.  Mix away my friends.