Copycat Orange Julep
By: Natalie Sztern
Published: Monday, December 7, 2009 - 1:18pm

Ingredients




5 ounces can of frozen orange juice can
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 ice cubes

Preparation

1 Blend all together in a blender.  Pour - stick a straw in- and drink.

About


This is a 'copycat' recipe mimicking an original recipe from The Original Orange Julep in Montreal.
The Orange Julep must be given its history and the following pays homage to an institution in Montreal going back to the 1940's:  What is not mentioned is that the OJ is the place where from its inception, was a hang-out for teens and early on was THE last stop everyone went after a Saturday night out.  Many a marriage was made at the OJ.  The OJ never, ever lost that reputation for the generation of teens; the Orange Julep never had a generational gap.  They still meet up here.  It is the place where a teen who got their driver's license celebrated THAT DAY.  It was when my brother and sister were teens, it was when I was a teen, it was when MY KIDS were teens and I have no doubt it is that today.
The Orange Julep was the last of its kind to have its waitresses (only waitresses btw) come up to the car window and take an order.  It was the last of its kind to have the trays that used to sit on the driver's side window, rolled half-way down, with hooks.
The Orange Julep had an opening and a closing: that is how Montrealers knew that Spring was on its way and Winter was about to come.  THE ORANGE JULEP EITHER OPENED UP OR CLOSED DOWN.  You never missed an OJ opening: it was a mandatory event like Apple-picking is to us - A MUST HAVE AND A MUST DO.  The Orange Julep has been written about by every journalist and every newspaper numerous times and the following is from the Wiki page....take time to go to the link and read...especially if you are an expat.
"The Gibeau Orange Julep (also known colloquially as OJ or The Big Orange) is a roadside attraction and fast food restaurant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[1]
The building is in the shape of a giant orange, three stories high with a diameter of forty feet. The restaurant was started by Hermas Gibeau in the 1940s to serve his trademark orange drink, similar but not identical to that of Orange Julius.[2]It is believed Gibeau intended to live in the three-story sphere with his wife and children. [3]
The restaurant and its orange sphere was rebuilt further back from the roadway when it was widened as the Decarie Expressway in the 1960s.
For a time, the Julep was noted for rollerskating waitresses but customers today order food in the more conventional fashion of a fast food restaurant. Food can then be taken away or eaten at one of a number of provided picnic tables. [4] The restaurant operates 24 hours a day during summer and reduced hours in winter. [5]
Today, it also hosts classic car and motorbike enthusiasts on Wednesday nights from May-August. [3]
The restaurant is located at the corner of Decarie Boulevard and Pare Street, just off the Decarie Expressway, in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. It is just north of the equestrian harness racing track Blue Bonnets, and directly across the expressway from the landmark hotel Ruby Foo's. It is within walking distance of Namur Montreal metro station."

Comments:
tom

Hi there,
I just tried that recipe. Seems like a teaspoon of vanilla is way too much!
Will have to try again and add a drop at a time...
thanks though!
Natalie Sztern

Hi Tom,
Read your thoughts and indeed the original Montreal Orange Julep was a a very different taste to the Orange Julep I have tasted in the US.  Like always recipes are according to taste but this has been a mainstay recipe and tastes like the Original - even the Gibeau has changed the flavor to being not that sweet - the vanilla adds to the sweetness.
Thank you for answering an I had no idea this recipe was chosen back then.  So a double thank you
Zach

The drink in the US similar to Montreal's Orange Julep is called Orange Julius.
Not the same and the companies are not related.
Al

Too Sweet!!
This doesn't taste like Orange Julep at all.