Rx No. 8
Mint-infused Toki whisky, clarified Georgia peach cordial, and Ratafia de Champagne — a springtime Julep-Manhattan.
Recipe by Miles Macquarrie, Kimball House, Decatur, Georgia.
The Rx cocktails at Kimball House are a recurring series — numbered prescriptions, each one a seasonal exploration of a specific spirit, technique, or flavor territory. Rx No. 8 is a springtime drink, and the prescription framework is more than decorative: it connects to the 19th-century American tradition of whiskey as medicine, the apothecary as early bartender, and the pharmacy as the precursor to the cocktail bar.
Mint juleps were originally understood as medicinal preparations — cooling drinks of spirit, sugar, and mint served as morning tonics in the American South. The Kentucky Derby's association with the Julep is a 20th-century marketing achievement layered on top of a much older culture of whiskey and mint as a daily restorative.
Miles Macquarrie's Rx No. 8 takes the Julep's core — whiskey and mint — and transforms it into something closer to a Manhattan in structure. Suntory Toki whisky (Japanese, lighter and more delicate than American bourbon) is cold-infused with mint via vacuum compression, preserving the fresh, green quality of the herb without the cooked, bitter notes that heat extraction would produce. The peach cordial introduces stone fruit sweetness. Empirical Stone Fruit and Vilmart Ratafia de Champagne layer in additional fruit complexity. The result is a spirit-forward drink that smells like a julep garden and drinks like a serious cocktail.
Single Serve
Steps
House-Made Components
Mint-Infused Suntory Toki
Cold vacuum infusion preserves mint's fresh, green, volatile aromatics. Heat would produce a cooked, slightly bitter result — not what this drink needs.
Lightly muddle mint in a deep pan — just bruise, don't pulverize. Add very cold Toki. If using a vacuum machine: compress 3 times, sealing on the third compression. Infuse in the freezer for one week. Strain through fine-mesh and filter. Without a vacuum machine: combine in a sealed jar and refrigerate for 72 hours, tasting daily. Strain when the mint character is present but not overpowering.
Clarified Peach Cordial
Georgia peaches cold-infused and clarified — the result is a clear, intensely peachy liquid that integrates into the drink without adding color or cloudiness.
Combine all ingredients. Cold-infuse for one week in refrigerator, stirring occasionally. Strain through fine-mesh, then centrifuge or filter through coffee filter for clarity. Keeps refrigerated for 2 weeks.