An Excuse to Drink – July 17, 1955: Disneyland Opens

By
Gregory Priebe
– July 17, 2010Posted in: An Excuse to Drink, Mocktail, Non-Alcoholic, This Day in History

Disneyland Park is an American amusement park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of The Walt Disney Company. Originally called simply Disneyland, it was dedicated with a televised press preview on July 17, 1955, and opened to the general public on July 18, 1955. Disneyland holds the distinction of being the only theme park to be designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt DisneyDisneyland Resort himself. In 1998, the theme park was re-branded “Disneyland Park” to distinguish it from the larger complex. – Wikipedia

Official cocktail recipes from Disney World are rather easy to come by, but this was not to be the case with Disneyland. The only drink I could locate through a quick search of the web was the “Mint Julep” recipe served at the New Orleans Bar  French Market Julep Bar. Even a mixology novice will quickly notice that this recipe is a Mint Julep in name only: nary a drop of bourbon to be found.

This recipe comes from “Cooking with Mickey Vol. I”

Disneyland "Mint Julep"

flikr photo by davie_the_amazing

The Disneyland Mint Julep – Mocktail

  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 3 tsp. Lime Juice Concentrate
  • 3 cups Soda Water
  • 6 tbsp. Creme DeMenthe (not liqueur, but the coffee syrup style)
  • 6 oz. thawed Lemonade Concentrate

Glass: Plastic Cup

Garnish: mint leaves, pineapple slices, maraschino cherries,bamboo skewers

Dissolve sugar into soda water. Add lime juice and lemonade and bring to boil.  Remove from heat and add Creme DeMenthe. Chill. Yield: Approx. 2/3 gallon.

To serve, combine 3 parts syrup to 5 parts water. Add mint and skewer two pineapple slices and a cherry.

Author’s note: If I was to make this (and heck, that’ll be a BIG if), and I wanted this drink to even have the faintest hope of being and alcoholic beverage (notice I did not say cocktail)  I would:

  1. Add regular water instead of the soda water, as it just seems a waste.
  2. Leave the  mint coffee syrup  out of the  boil, but add actual Creme de Menthe to taste when you actually assemble the drink (it would probably be cheaper anyway).
  3. Finally, add 3 parts syrup and top with the 5 part soda water.
  4. Dump the whole damn thing down the drain and make an actual Mint Julep.

Now you have your very own Disney-themed minty green nightmare! Come to think of it, I really should re-visit this concoction in October as the basis of some sort of Halloween party drink.

This recipe comes from “Cooking with Mickey Vol. I”

Ingredients
1 cup Sugar
3 tsp. Lime Juice Concentrate
3 cups Soda Water
6 tbsp. Creme DeMenthe (hard to find, but this is important)
6 oz. thawed Lemonade Concentrate

Directions
Dissolve sugar into soda water. Add lime juice and lemonade and bring to boil.
Remove from heat and add Creme DeMenthe. Chill. To serve, combine 3 parts syrup
to 5 parts water. Yield: Approx. 2/3 gallon.

Mint Julep Concentrate. A company called Bar None in Tustin California has been
producing a "take-home" version of the julep: simply add water. This can be
bought either from Bar None or at the French Market/Mint Julep Bar.

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About Gregory Priebe