NA Mint Julep

A zero-proof Mint Julep bursting with fresh mint and crushed ice — the perfect alcohol-free version of the iconic Kentucky Derby classic.

The Mint Julep has one of the longest documented histories of any American cocktail: the earliest known written reference to the drink appears in 1784 in a description of Virginia drinking culture, when the julep — derived from the Persian word gulab, meaning rosewater — was already a familiar medical and social institution in the American South. The drink functioned for much of the 18th and early 19th centuries as both a morning beverage and a medicinal tonic, with the mint and spirit believed to settle the stomach and fortify the constitution for the day ahead. John Davis, in his 1803 Travels of Four Years and a Half in the United States, described the morning julep as a regular feature of Virginia hospitality. The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville began formally serving the Mint Julep as its official cocktail in 1938, and the association has since become one of the most enduring pairings of a drink and a sporting event in American history: more than 80,000 Mint Juleps are served during the two-day Kentucky Oaks and Derby weekend each May, representing the largest single consumption event for bourbon in the world. Non-alcoholic Mint Julep versions became popular mocktail options in the 2020s as sober-curious culture sought zero-proof alternatives to the Derby's most iconic serve, preserving the fresh mint, crushed ice, and sweetness of the original while replacing the bourbon with NA whiskey or simple complementary syrups.