Pineapple Mint Juleps

In celebration of the Kentucky Derby this past Saturday I made this recipe with Mitcher’s Bourbon Whiskey, a new to the island spirit imported by Young’s Champagne. While the 140th derby has little to do with The Bahamas, the pineapple on the other hand continues to be deeply rooted in our archipelago’s history, and as mentioned previously my family’s own.

At the turn of the 18th century pineapple farming was the main source of revenue for many locals on the 110 mile-island of Eleuthera. It is boasted by islanders that in those years the trade drew as many as forty schooners in to Governor’s Harbour, some from lands as far as Europe. This was until the pineapple industries of Cuba and Hawaii were subsidized by the U.S. Government, leading to the demise of Eleuthera’s own. Nevertheless to this day it is a trade that continues to be honored at the Pineapple Festival held each year on the first weekend of June in the settlement of Gregory Town, Eleuthera. A festival, and a tradition, I will recognize with similar recipes and the like over the course of the next month.