Yesterday, Louisville, Ky., transformed from a city of seminaries and distilleries into the spotlight of the sports world. The Kentucky Derby, arguably the greatest horse race in the world, is just a few blinks of the eye in a weeklong celebration of horse racing and ritual. Churchill Downs, which most of the year is dressed for a quick run to the grocery store, blooms as patrons consume more than 120,000 mint juleps.

The Derby-like scene was repeated on smaller scales from San Francisco to Eastern North Carolina. The Derby Party is alive and growing, and one element is a constant: bourbon, mint, sugar and ice melded into juleps. Here's what I want to know: Did you have a good mint julep yesterday? If you're not sure, try this recipe, and I bet you'll drink them on the other 364 days of the year.

A well-made mint julep is an icy, sweet, bracing concoction, with a mint perfume. It's the perfect cocktail to transition from the cool of early spring to the mild warmth of early summer. In Southern states and up the east coast to West Point, families with ties to the South have exacting mint julep rituals that have been handed down through generations. I drink them from the Derby through early football season, but then I'm a Southern boy raised on bourbon and have been a groomsman in enough Southern weddings to have accumulated a few silver julep cups.

Surprisingly, the mint julep has its roots in the Arab world, according to Chris Morris, master distiller for Woodford Reserve Bourbon and a spirits historian. Morris says today's julep began centuries ago as an Arabic drink called the julab, which was made from water and rose petals. As the julab migrated to the Mediterranean, that region's indigenous mint replaced the rose petals. In America, the mint julep was originally a morning drink for early rising farmers of the agriculture states of the South and Southeast, much like coffee is today. It was a perfect way to start the morning and the ultimate picker-upper, Morris says. Somewhere along the way, bourbon became part of the mix.

"The drink appears to have been brought to The Greenbrier Hotel and Resort by Kentucky horse owners who vacationed at the resort," he says. "The hotel lays claim to inventing the drink, and has recipes dating back to the early 1800s." They gussied up the cocktail with the silver cup.

The mint julep, like bourbon, fell on hard times as we resisted our father's cocktails in the 1960s and '70s. Probably the social upheaval of the period dampened enthusiasm for what some perceived as a symbol of the old South. Recently, the single-barrel phenomenon that started with Scotch whisky expanded into the bourbon families. Even if you are only slightly plugged into the cocktail scene, you know bourbon is riding a wave of popularity from the trendiest bars in New York City to San Francisco. With bourbon's rise, the mint julep has come into its own to become the next "it" cocktail.

Throughout its history, the mint julep has remained one of the most aromatic concoctions ever created, and does it ever taste good. Sip one with pride.

Recipes

Chris Morris' Mint Julep