1. Muddle mint leaves in the bottom of a cocktail shaker (alternatively, chop leaves and strain out after shaking cocktail).
2. Fill cocktail shaker halfway with ice.
3. Add bourbon, lemonade, and ginger syrup to cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into cocktail glasses with ice; garnish with mint sprig (for extra mint scent while drinking).
4. Optional: As desired, you can play around with quantities and with extra ingredients – like squeezes of lemon juice, ginger ale, extra simple syrup, or bitters.

Ginger syrup

1. Process chopped ginger in a food processor or blender until minced.
2. Place ginger, sugar, and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to an active simmer.
3. Simmer the mixture for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. After simmering for about 45 minutes, pour the mixture through a mesh sieve or colander to remove the ginger. This can be done at almost any point during the simmering process, based on your preference for spice level. I removed it the first time about 1 hour in, which made it fairly spicy. You could remove it after 30 minutes (or less) if preferred; it’s up to you!
4. Continue simmering the mixture until it has reduced to about 4 cups of syrup. You can increase the heat to a boil to speed up the process, if you like. The syrup may be fairly thin, but that’s okay – it will thicken slightly as it cools.  Remove from heat, and let cool before pouring into a jar or some other container. This syrup will last at least a few months in the refrigerator.