The Kentucky Derby is almost upon us—the first Saturday of May—and that means mint julep season is on.
While the julep has been the race’s official drink since 1938, the first race was run in 1875, and the drink’s association with it began sometime soon after. And the drink itself goes back centuries earlier.
As the song goes, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” The julep was first defined as a sweetened liquid used to cover up something less palatable that you wanted to get past your tongue, typically a nasty health aid. The word and concept originated with the Persian gulab, or rosewater (water infused with rose petals), passing through Arabic, then Latin, and into the Romance languages. Middle English picked it up in the 1600s as something like iulep.
The earliest print mention of a julep as a mint and liquor (rum or brandy) health elixir was in Virginia in the early 1800s. It was described as a medicinal drink used by farmers to ease stomach problems. But many historians contend that it was a drink of high society taken at breakfast. Much like the sazerac, previously written up here, the original mint julep called for Cognac. That recipe sent barkeeps and drinkers in search of an alternative when Cognac became scarce during an outbreak of phylloxera—an insect that destroys grapevine roots—in France in the late 19th century. Those living in Kentucky, being home to bourbon, made the obvious replacement.
While some may debate the medicinal properties of whiskey, it’s fair to say that the tipple is strong and perhaps an acquired taste for some. After all, early cocktails added sugar to liquor to ease it down, and today’s mint julep tempers bourbon with fresh mint muddled with sugar and water.
At the Derby, the mint julep is served in a silver cup, a common sort of trophy at county fairs, its icy contents creating an attractive frost on the surface. And while the recipe at the Derby is precise, many variations exist. The Maryland version calls for rye or even gin or rum rather than bourbon. Some recipes add a half tablespoon or so of fresh lemon or lime juice. The “Kentucky-style” mint juleps of Louisville-born Tom Bullock, an influential black bartender and author of the 1917 work “The Ideal Bartender,” were well known, even passing the lips of President Theodore Roosevelt. But in addition to the bourbon recipe, his bar guide includes recipes for Brandy, Pineapple, and Champagne Juleps, as well as the St. Louis-style Overall Julep, made with rye whiskey, gin, grenadine, and lime and lemon juices.
Mint Julep
- 8 mint leaves
- 2 ounces bourbon
- 2 sugar cubes or 1 teaspoon powdered sugar (or 1/2 ounce simple syrup)
- Crushed ice
- Mint sprigs for garnish
