A Celebration of Julep Cups

Each year, as the first signs of spring come in, I am reminded once again of our decidedly Southern environment. The flowering trees and lush, dripping greenery that suddenly overtake our cobbled streets; the swampy humidity that we get hints of at the tail end of the April rains; the way the city seems to decelerate, just a little, to enjoy our break from the last dredges of winter. With this annual slowing down, of course, comes the more effervescent cousin: Party Season... If there is one thing I have learned in the last eight years of my life in Alexandria, it is that Southerners love a good party, but most especially one steeped in tradition. Does the party have a specific dress code that harkens back generations and would look out of sorts on any other day? Great. Will there be food that you would pretty much only eat on this day, but everyone has their own secret family recipe for it? Better. Is there a particular libation – and, importantly, a special vessel out of which to enjoy said beverage that has enough variations to incite friendly bantering about which is the “real” way to enjoy it, and all variations get you nice and tipsy? Now we’re talking.And what is a better harbinger of springtime in the South than the good ol’ Kentucky Derby? This party has it all: great hats, bourbon balls, horse racing, a song that everyone sings once a year but no one really knows in its entirety, and, of course, mint juleps served in julep cups. This last part is where our shop really gets into it.At Alx&Co., we love silver. And we love bourbon. And, we love drinking bourbon out of our silver cups. The Derby, being the most popular of the many horse races of the seasons, is the one day when it seems the entire world suddenly understands our infatuation with this magnificent combination. The refreshing feel of the silver against the smooth, woodsy amber of the bourbon; the cup weighted just perfectly to hold the temperature of your iced beverage (and keep your head cool if things heat up) – it’s all there, and it’s amazing. After all these years, julep cups are still our favorite things to make. The clean design lends well to any aesthetic and they are durable, being passed on from generation to generation.Did you know that the ridges around the top and the bottom are there so that you can hold the cup without warming your beverage with your hands? Nothing worse than a warm mint julep! Did you know that sterling silver is anti-microbial? Did you know that if you run over one of our handmade sterling julep cups with a car, we will pop it right back up for you? I could go on. These cups are practical and beautiful and truly represent the marriage of craftsmanship and design that our store encompasses.Sterling julep cups can, and should, be used throughout the year. Tim and I use ours in our house for by-the-bed cups that won’t break when you knock them over, we use them as vases for flowers, and, of course, we use them for straight bourbon or whiskey drinking at the end of the day. You can put them through the dishwasher (contrary to what your grandmother may have told you) and they will always polish right back up. In fact, right around this time of the year our clients like to drop off their julep cup collections for a nice sprucing up on our polishing wheel. They make great gifts for the person who has everything or the couple who is just starting out. We even offer baby mint julep cups for the smallest of us all!So, this spring, celebrate your inner Southerner and pop back a mint julep in the finest way possible. We have a limited selection of julep cups (handmade by Lawrence, our silversmith) available now, so swing by and feel the difference.(updated from its original posting in The Scout Guide in 2016)