The drink of the Derby

The drink of the Kentucky Derby (which is tomorrow, if you didn’t know), Mint Juleps weren’t always the bourbon filled cups we know them as today.

From around 1810 to the end of the Civil War, the main spirit for a julep wasn't whiskey but French cognac or some sort of brandy. Juleps were also considered a northern drink, not a southern one. But around the time of the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, a few things changed for the mint julep. American whiskey making technique and standards had vastly improved from 50 years prior, and French brandy was in short supply due to a phylloxera outbreak. By the 1870’s cognac was out, whiskey was in, and it’s remained the spirit of choice for the mint julep ever since.