On the marquee: mojito vs mint julep. Is there a clear winner? Is there even that much of a difference between the two minty drinks? Read on to find out (and drink both to decide for yourself).
Mint juleps and mojitos both awaken your senses with their fresh-mint perfume and ease their way down your throat with a seductive warmth only liquor can provide. Both drinks were born below the Mason-Dixon line, yet they’ve cultivated distinctly different reputations.
The Basic Differences
Cuban mojitos have experienced a renaissance at bars nationwide in the last decade and are a standard summer drink, while mint juleps are often reserved for particularly genteel occasions, chief among them the Kentucky Derby, that renowned horse race attended by the well-heeled and big-hatted, kicking off May 4 this year. The standard mojito recipe, in addition to mint, is made with rum, lime, simple syrup, and soda water and served in any old bar glass, while a mint julep relies mostly on good bourbon, sugar, and plenty of crushed ice, and is traditionally served in a silver cup.
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Godinger Silver Mint Julep Cup, $16.45 on Amazon
The traditional beaded silver cup is a must, no matter where you drink a julep.
Expert Opinions
Ask craft cocktail artists how the two spiked drinks compare, and their answers are as muddled as the mint that unites both libations.
“The mint julep is kind of like the mojito of the southeastern United States,” according to mixthatdrink.com. It’s a refreshing combination of mint, sugar, bourbon, and water, perfect for sipping on hot days. The major difference between them is that the mint julep uses bourbon instead of rum, the cocktail enthusiast site says.
“No it’s not. Are you kidding me?” argues award-winning craft mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler in his “Mint Julep—NOT a Mojito Made with Bourbon” video, part of his The Morgenthaler Method mixology series on smallscreennetwork.com. “In the food world that would be like saying, you know, a classic French steak tartare is just grocery store sushi, but with beef.”
Morgenthaler, bar manager of Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon, was reacting to a popular YouTube video of a Miami bartender making a mojito with Rose’s lime juice and Sprite, while also saying a mint julep is like a mojito but with bourbon. If Morgenthaler had to pick any drink to compare the julep to, it would be something more, well, old-fashioned.
“It’s an Old Fashioned with mint instead of bitters,”Morgenthaler says of his beloved mint julep.
Dushan Zaric—who co-owns acclaimed NYC watering holes Employees Only and Macao Trading Co., runs a bartending academy, and is an advisor for Liquor.com.—seems to agree more with Morgenthaler on the julep, although he adds an optional shake of bitters. Employees Only was named the world’s best cocktail bar at the 2011 summer Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans.
Muddle, then Stir or Shake
Mint juleps and mojitos both have fresh mint sprigs as garnishes, and ask you to gently muddle fresh mint with superfine sugar or simple syrup (sugar dissolved into water). Muddling is just pushing down on the leaves with a spoon or wooden muddler, which releases the mint oils to mingle with the sugar. But that’s about when the similarities stop.
Old-timey mint juleps use Kentucky-style bourbon and tons of crushed ice. “Mint juleps are cocktails you build right in the glass,” Zaric says in his “How to Cocktail: Daiquiri, Mint Julep and Mojito” video story on Liquor.com. After muddling, you pour in the bourbon, and then add crushed ice. As you pile on the ice Slushee-style, it sinks into the glass, making the outside of the tall water glass (or even more old-fashioned, the polished pewter cup) frost up, which is an important characteristic. Then you pile on more crushed ice.
“It’s like a little snow cone effect on top,” says Morgenthaler, who crushes his ice in a food processor.
Mojitos, which Zaric says originated in Havana, Cuba, call for rum, ice cubes, freshly squeezed lime juice, and soda water. Once everything is combined except for the soda water, you cover the cup and shake. After pouring your concoction into your serving glass, you fill the remaining space with soda water.
So you see, several ingredients and techniques differentiate these two minty, warm-weather cocktails. Mojitos are especially refreshing in the summer, and many people like to drink mint juleps in late spring and at Kentucky Derby celebrations. His favorite, mint juleps, are really easy to make, Morgenthaler says.
“Apparently it’s also really easy to screw up,” he says. “But it’s a mint julep. It’s delicious.”
Try some of our recipes that fall along the lines of these celebrated cocktails, with twists and turns along the way.
1. Mint Julep
Some julep fans will gasp if you muddle the mint, but we like releasing the mint oil with a little muddling in this Kentucky Derby cocktail tradition. Just don’t overdo it. Get our Mint Julep recipe. (And check out the best Kentucky bourbons to put in it.)
2. Mojito
The mojito became such a Cuban standard during the 1930s and 1940s that it earned such celebrity adherents as Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, and Lou Costello. Get our Mojito recipe.
3. Apricot Whiskey Smash
Using rye whiskey, this summery cocktail also muddles the mint, but adds ripe apricots for a more fruity finish. Get our Apricot Whiskey Smash recipe (and clear up any confusion you may have about the differences between whiskey and bourbon—and rye, as well).
4. Ginger Mojitos for a Crowd
Grated ginger and aromatic mint leaves are steeped into a simple syrup for this batchable cocktail that’s zingy and fresh and totally thirst-quenching.
5. Basil and Rye
This is a sort of julep-mojito fusion, but it swaps basil for mint as the fresh herb, plus there’s lemon juice. Get our Basil and Rye recipe.
6. Mojito Margarita
Another fusion drink, this is a mojito-margarita mix-up that’s based on tequila plus delicious Velvet Falernum, lime juice, and mint (of course). Get our Mojito Margarita.
8. Tea and Whiskey Highball
A perfect garden party or front porch sipper, this iced tea and whiskey cocktail is infused with orange in addition to fresh mint. We’ll be coming back to this all summer. Get our Tea and Whiskey Highball recipe.
8. Slushy Mojito
For those really hot days, only a frozen cocktail will do. Slushy mojitos seem extra-icy thanks to that tingle from the mint. Get our Slushy Mojito recipe.
