Kentucky bourbon poured over crushed ice with sugar and bruised mint, served in a frosted silver cup. The official Kentucky Derby drink since 1939.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
The Mint Julep was already a Kentucky genteel-society drink when Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark founded the Kentucky Derby in 1875; the story goes that Churchill Downs planted mint outside the clubhouse for the first Derby's juleps. The drink became the Derby's official cocktail in 1939, and Churchill Downs began ordering the iconic souvenir julep cups in 1937. Today more than 125,000 Mint Juleps are served at the racetrack over the two-day Oaks and Derby weekend, requiring 10,000 bottles of Kentucky bourbon, 2,250 pounds of mint and 475,000 pounds of ice.
Tip from the editors. Use proper crushed ice and a real silver or pewter cup; the frost is the point. Don't over-muddle the mint or the drink turns bitter.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Lobby Bar at the Brown Hotel in Louisville pours mint juleps and bourbon flights inside the lobby where the Hot Brown sandwich was invented in 1926, the city's hotel-bar classic.
Signature drink: Mint Julep, bourbon flights
Food: Hot Brown and small plates
Tip: Walk-in. The bar serves the Hot Brown in the evening alongside the bourbon list.
Doc Crow's on West Main in Louisville pours from a 2,700-bourbon library on Whiskey Row, the city's deepest bourbon list paired with smoked brisket and a raw bar.
Signature drink: Kentucky bourbon flights
Food: Smoked brisket, raw oysters
Tip: Walk-in for the bar. The Whiskey Wednesday flight runs four pours for $24.
Down One Bourbon Bar in the basement of the Galt House Hotel pours over 100 bourbons and Kentucky cocktails, the city's largest hotel-attached bourbon room on West Main.
Signature drink: Old Fashioned, bourbon flights
Food: Smoked brisket sliders, BBQ plates
Tip: Walk-in for the bar. The Old Fashioned class runs Saturday afternoons; book through the hotel.
8UP on West Chestnut in Louisville pours mint juleps and wood-fired pizzas from the Hilton Garden Inn rooftop until midnight, an all-glass late-night drinkery with skyline views.
Try: Wood-fired pizza, late cocktails
Tip: Book the rooftop patio for Derby weekend. The cocktail program is the draw.
More cities are in research. Want mint julep covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.