Many spectator sports are teamed with a beverage. Tennis has Pimm’s, golf has Scotch, and the Kentucky Derby? That has the Mint Julep. Traditionally served in a shiny silver cup (not the trophy), it’s filled with a crowd-pleasing mix of bourbon, mint, sugar syrup and crushed ice. More than just an annual flurry, this cocktail comes from a long line of Juleps, tracing back much further than its current track-side state.
The Mint Julep’s steady evolution is certainly no sprint. The cocktail is said to have stemmed from a medicinal Persian syrup infused with herbs and florals named golab (meaning rose water). Later adapting to European conditions, the rose petals were switched for native mint, then following a bout of phylloxera (a grape-vine pest), the Cognac was swapped for another liquor, whiskey. Clearly no thoroughbred, in the best way.
Gaining momentum in 18th-century America, particularly after a notable call-out in John Davis’ 1803 book, Travels of Four and a Half Years in the United States of America, the Mint Julep was embraced by the deep south for its refreshing flavour.
For more than aesthetic reasons, the Mint Julep is traditionally served in a silver cup (or sometimes a modern copper cup) to help keep the frosty cocktail cold, but any glass suits this cocktail. We’ve used a tumbler here, but a Collins glass, or any tall glass, works especially well. As long as you make extra for friends, stirring these should be more of a team sport anyway.
