Mint Julep appears as a signature dish in 1 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Mint Julep · Louisville
Kentucky bourbon poured over crushed ice with sugar and bruised mint, served in a frosted silver cup. The official Kentucky Derby drink since 1939.
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 signature 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.
Where to eat in Louisville:
- Lobby Bar at the Brown Hotel
- Doc Crow's Southern Smokehouse and Raw Bar
- Down One Bourbon Bar
- 8UP Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen