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 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.
4 editor picks for Mint Julep in Louisville, ranked by editorial score. All Louisville signature dishes · Mint Julep across every city.
Doc Crow's Southern Smokehouse and Raw Bar ★ 4.5
downtown · 127 West Main Street, Louisville, KY 40202
Doc Crow's on West Main in Louisville smokes brisket and shucks oysters on Whiskey Row, pairing both with a bourbon library of more than 2,700 expressions.
Lobby Bar at the Brown Hotel ★ 4.4
335 West Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202
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.
Down One Bourbon Bar ★ 4.3
321 West Main Street, Louisville, KY 40202
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.
8UP Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen ★ 4.2
350 West Chestnut Street, Louisville, KY 40202
8UP on West Chestnut in Louisville pours wine, mint juleps and bourbon flights from the Hilton Garden Inn rooftop, an all-glass downtown drinkery with skyline views.