Best Mint Juleps

Why limit yourself to just one? The ingredients in a Mint Julep are so easily enhanced by the addition of a fruity component so I say go nuts and make them all!

My obsession with the Kentucky Derby started during the years we lived in North Carolina. I wish I could say I’ve been to the Derby but the best I can do is share that I’ve been by there. Still, I love this cocktail and this is a collaboration of My Best Mint Juleps.

We moved to Raleigh from a suburb of St. Louis when I was in my 20’s and it was a long haul by car but I made the trip with a friend since I wanted to bring my younger sister back with me for an extended stay and a plane trip would not work for the stuff we knew she would want to bring with her.

So my dream on that trip was to spend some time in the rolling hills of Kentucky and thankfully Janie and her daughter Erin both obliged me on the first leg of our trip. There is something so idyllic about that part of the country; the rolling hills of Kentucky with mile upon mile of white fences and horses running inside them was magical.

I’ve loved horses for as long as I can remember. An annual trip to Busch Farms outside of St. Louis to see the Clydesdales when I was younger may have started my fascination and my love was cemented the years I had a best friend who owned two horses; one that I got to ride quite often.

I will never claim to be a good rider but I sure loved it. Even when that stallion got away from me a bit and I couldn’t stop him. Silly me…I saw that bench coming and was scared to death anticipating the worst tumble of my life when he did what horses do…he jumped it.

If you had asked me to take that big horse out and jump a bench with him I would have never agreed but it remains to this day both the most scary but also one of the most exhilarating things I’ve EVER done.

Watching the Derby brings about the same emotions; I am both scared to death for those horses but also cannot deny the excitement of watching them race.

They are surely one of the most beautiful creatures on this earth to behold when they do their thing so I’ve never lost that passion even if I haven’t been on a horse in years. I do honor that love though with an annual Derby party and with that I’ve managed over the years to come up with The Best Mint Juleps!

And not just any type of Derby party. My friends and I are busy in the middle of a Saturday afternoon and many of them have little kids of their own so a big fancy party is not going to happen.

What does usually happen is that I invite the neighbors over, I open my home for fifteen minutes before the race, have an assortment of the Best Mint Juleps ready for everyone, a simple appetizer, and a Kentucky Derby Pie, and we watch the race with drinks and/or food in hand and once it’s over…well that’s about it. Like the race, it’s fast and furious and everyone goes on about their business.

Last year there was nothing; two of my best neighbors weren’t available so I decided to punt and made something for Cinco de Mayo…it’s always on May 5th and often coincides with the Derby. I’m good with that occasionally; I also love Mexican food and last year made this Chile Relleno Casserole that I discovered at the first Broncos Super Bowl Party I attended after moving to Colorado…still so good after all these years!

It’s interesting to note that everyone equates a Mint Julep to The Kentucky Derby and expects that at the very least it will include bourbon, mint, sugar, and crushed ice. The term “julep” is generally defined as a sweet drink, particularly one used as a vehicle for medicine and its origins were quite distant from what we know today.

The word itself is derived from the Spanish “julepe”, from Spanish Arabic, and this from the Persian word گلاب (Golâb), meaning rosewater. English juleps, as opposed to later American mint juleps, were primarily medicinal, lightly alcoholic, and often contained camphor.

Older versions viewed it as a tumbler of rum and water, well sweetened, with a slip of mint in it and more records include notations of some composed of Claret or Madeira. But it was their popularity in the Southern states of the US that saw them rise to the heights they have today and the mint julep has been promoted by Churchill Downs in association with the Kentucky Derby since 1938

While this combination of pineapple with rum might seem unique to those better acquainted to Mint Juleps with bourbon or whiskey, this is more of a revisited version of one made years before their popularity at the Kentucky Derby. I liken this to something akin to my Pineapple Upside Down Cake. That old fashioned cake also has brown sugar, pineapple, and for mine, a touch of rum.

Need some of the classic Mint Julep Cups? (affiliate link). They are pricey but beautiful and I’ve also found this light weight Julep Cup and these Plastic Cups with a Silver Rim (affiliate link) that I use for a crowd; I’ll never own a dozen of the real deal!

Who’s your favorite to win? I don’t have one…I wait until the last minute and go with my gut and it’s usually some poor underdog. It’s not often that my method is successful but when it is? Now THAT’s exciting!

I honestly love ALL of these!

By the way; I know that the Mint Juleps are ubiquitous with The Kentucky Derby, but these drinks are also great all summer long; the ones with fresh fruit are particularly well suited. They are too good for just ONE day! I’ve included the recipe for the Classic Mint Julep in this post…have fun with it!

PIN IT! ‘Best Mint Juleps’