So, I decided to organize a few friends for a Mint Julep Crawl on Kentucky Derby day (which fell on Cinco de Mayo this year!).
My plan was to visit a few of the best bars with the most creative mixologists in the Back Bay area! We had an absolute BLAST!
The idea was to challenge bartenders to get creative and put their own spin on the classic Mint Julep! Many really delivered!
Here are the places we descended upon...large fancy hats and all....
1. Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks
ESK is very well known for fabulously-talented mixologist and of course an awesome kitchen!
Champagne Mint Julep
Made with champagne, muddled mint, simple syrup and topped with cognac!
The Brazilian Buck
Our wonderful server Glenn offered this drink to one of the ladies looking for something sweet to drink. It's not currently on the menu, but will likely make a comeback this summer!
It's generally a mojito made with Brazilian rum (Cachaça) and cava.
Cachaça is interesting because it's a rum made from fermented sugar cane. It was tasty and we really hope to see it back on the menu soon!
The Haverna
The Haverna was a show stopper and my favorite cocktail of the day at ESK!
It's a sour of pineapple Averna and Pimm's.
The Traditional Mint Julep
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| The Lobster B.L.T. was marvelous! |
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| A visit to Eastern Standard isn't complete without mac n' cheese! This is the gouda mac n' cheese with bits of guanciale! |
2. Cactus Club
We decided switched our celebration to Cinco de Mayo for a bit so we traveled to Cactus Club for a Margarita!
By this point, we accumulated a few fans and confused folks around town and even took a few pictures with them.
One of the ladies spotted two gentleman wearing sombreros, so we convinced them to join us for a Cinco de Mayo de Derby pic...
3. McGreevy's
The lovely Rebecca made my favorite spin on a mint julep overall. She created the cocktail just for us!
Rebecca appropriately named her creation...
The Thin Mint
The Thin Mint was made with Rum, Bailey's, simple syrup, and Dr. McGillicuddy's Mint liqueur!
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| J.C. sporting his derby hat! |
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| Stacie, enjoying her Thin Mint! |
4. Haru Sushi
Yes. We actually had wonderful classic mint juleps (w/Knob Creek - my fave) prepared by my favorite person @ Haru Boston!
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| Great minds... |
5. Post 390
The Post Julep was my 2nd favorite of the day. It featured Maker's Mark, homemade simple syrup, over crushed ice, and topped with a Myer's float!
The bartenders were lots of fun!
The bar fare was awesome as usual!
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| Pork Bahn Mi Slider! |
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| Scotch Eggs! |
The slider: The pork was tender and moist, topped with kimchi on a warm sesame seed bun! Loved it.
The scotch eggs were delicious and served over a fig jam!
My group of friends? Priceless
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| The drink in the mason jar was a Mai Tai |
6. Towne Stove & Spirits
We went to Towne to watch the main race. We scored perfect high tops just across from the lower back bar's televisions! And my chosen horse "I'll Have Another" won!!!
I couldn't ask for a better ending to our crawl!
Towne's mint julep was super stiff! We also enjoyed a few small bites. I really loved the duck quesadillas!
Overall, we really enjoyed every stop along the way! I plan to make this an annual event with friends and friends of friends. Hope you can join us next year!
THE END!!!
