How Mint Juleps Became A Classic Cocktail To Sip At The Kentucky Derby
Although thoroughbred horses, showy hats, and gambling are the main attractions at the Kentucky Derby, mint juleps play a key role in the day's festivities too. The drink — which includes muddled mint, sugar, bourbon, and a generous mound of crushed ice, usually served in a silver, pewter, or decorative glass cup — has become synonymous with the menu for the annual horse race at Churchill Downs. Like pimento cheese sandwiches and the Master's, they just go together.
Leading up to the Kentucky Derby, the state of Kentucky celebrates mint julep month all April long. When Derby Day rolls around, Churchill Downs goes through 10,000 bottles of premade mint julep and 30 tons of ice, a testament to how much people still love this drink. This may lead you to wonder how it became so beloved and intertwined with horse racing's biggest day. Surprisingly, its origin can be traced back to ancient Persia, and its story involves medicinal tonics, American ingenuity, and a punch bowl.
The mint julep was once a medicine
Before mint juleps were a cocktail, they were a remedy. In fact, the origin of the word "julep" can be traced back to the word "golab", a restorative bath drawn for Persian Royalty, then the Latin word "julapium," which referenced a drinkable mint tonic. Somewhere along the way, alcohol got involved in this herbal concoction. This isn't so surprising, considering that alcohol has been used in medicine for thousands of years, from ancient Egypt, where it was employed in herbal remedies, to its use as an analgesic during surgeries in the 1800s.
Around the same time that doctors were using alcohol to knock out their patients, plenty of people were self-prescribing it as a pain reliever. In a young America, import taxes on spirits like rum that might have originally been present in a julep were replaced by American-made spirits like bourbon. Mint juleps, featuring Kentucky-made bourbon (of course), were consumed as a pre-work medicine of sorts for weary horse farm workers, with bourbon to dull aches and pains from hard physical labor, mint to invigorate the senses, and sugar to put a bit of pep in their step. (Although they were consumed in places like Virginia as well.) Beyond their use as a morning eye-opener, mint juleps were also enjoyed in numerous Southern households as a refreshing way to beat the heat.
Mint juleps were likely enjoyed at the first Kentucky Derby
The mint julep's place at the Derby involves one part geographical preferences and another part historical happenstance. Just as those tending to horses in Kentucky were fans of mint juleps in the 1800s, so were many others in the South at the time. In this way, it naturally found its place in the first Kentucky Derby, which took place in 1875. Additionally, the founder of Churchill Downs, Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., who happens to be the grandson of William Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) may have also played a role. Legend has it that Clark grew mint on the racetrack club's grounds and enjoyed mint juleps himself. In 1876, a news article mentions that Clark held a pre-race party which was attended by a famous Polish actress, Countess Helena Modjeska. When passed a giant mint julep (meant as a punch bowl for the whole party) the countess guzzled it down and asked for another for her husband.
The julep became the official beverage of the Derby and was cemented in 1939, further popularized by the introduction of keepsake cups the following year. Today, tradition lives on, with Kentucky's governor toasting the victor with a julep cup at the winner's party. So whether you're enjoying this year's Derby from Churchill Downs or on your couch, sipping a mint julep can offer a cooling refreshment along with a rich taste of history.