For a delicious twist on a classic bourbon cocktail, you'll love this brown sugar-peach mint julep. Made with a homemade dark brown sugar simple syrup and freshly muddled peaches, this summery mint julep is perfect whether you need a festive Kentucky Derby cocktail or a refreshing patio sipper on a warm night. No matter the occasion, you can’t go wrong with this peachy mint julep.

Two brown sugar-peach mint juleps with fresh mint sprigs and peach slices on the side.

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
How to Make
Best Mint Julep Serving Glass
Perfect Pairing
Love Fruity Bourbon Cocktails?
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Brown Sugar-Peach Mint Julep

Why You'll Love This Recipe

A classic mint julep always makes for a refreshing cocktail, but have you ever tried adding fruit? I tried my first fruit mint julep when I created this strawberry mint julep, and it was love at first sip.

Bourbon comes with caramel-like undertones, making it the perfect partner to brown sugar. Mint julep recipes typically call for white sugar, but the brown variety offers an unmatched depth and richness. Honestly, it makes me wonder why we haven’t defaulted to brown sugar this whole time.

To balance those complex flavors, fresh peaches handle the job nicely. Yes, peaches along with the mint are sweet, but the peaches also bring some acidity to the party. When all these elements come together, we’re left with summer’s best mint julep.

Bonus: If you love this recipe, make sure you also try my blackberry julep and sweet tea mint julep! You can also check out this collection of Derby Day cocktails.

Two peachy mint juleps on fabric with mint sprigs.

Ingredients

Before we start mixing, let’s get organized. Here are all the ingredients we need to make this peachy mint julep.

Bourbon
Dark brown sugar simple syrup
Chopped peaches
Crushed ice
Fresh mint

For the bourbon, we want to use a high-quality liquor. Mint juleps are strong drinks, especially in the beginning when the ice hasn’t melted much. Cheap bourbon will leave you questioning your life decisions.

That said, don’t feel like you need to break the bank. A mid-range priced bourbon makes one delicious mint julep. Think Maker’s Mark, Buffalo Trace, Elijah Craig, Stranahan’s, Four Roses or Woodford Reserve.

If you don't have dark brown sugar, you can substitute light brown sugar. I love the extra molasses you get with dark brown sugar and find it makes for a richer syrup. But you do you.

You may have noticed I specified crushed ice. Mint juleps always use crushed ice as opposed to cubes. The crushed ice continuously melts into the ice, keeping our bourbon cocktail extra refreshing and taking the edge off the bourbon.

We can use crushed ice from our ice maker, crush our own from whole cubes or grab a bag of the beloved Sonic crushed ice. I went the Sonic route because who isn’t obsessed with Sonic ice? Guaranteed crowd pleaser right there.

An aerial view of two brown sugar-peach mint juleps with a bar spoon on the side.

How to Make

Let's start mixing. We begin by making our dark brown sugar simple syrup to give it plenty of time to chill. To do this, we add equal parts dark brown sugar and water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Every so often, we give it a stir to make sure the sugar dissolves into a smooth mixture.

Once the sugar dissolves, the simple syrup is ready to chill. We can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several weeks and use it for all sorts of cocktails.

After our simple syrup has a chance to chill, we add it to our serving glass with fresh chopped peaches and plenty of mint leaves and muddle. I like to add the peaches chopped rather than sliced because they break down more easily, so we don't have to worry about overworking the mint. Once the peaches release their juices, we add our bourbon with some crushed ice and then stir to both chill the bourbon as well as dilute it with melted ice.

After the initial stir, we add even more crushed ice. Traditionally, bartenders create a mound of crushed ice on the top of the cup, making for a pretty presentation, but as long as you fill it to the top, you’ll have plenty of ice. This may seem like a lot of ice, but as I mentioned, mint juleps are designed that way for continuous melting action.

As a finishing touch, we garnish with a peach slice and leafy mint sprig, but before we do that, we place the mint sprig in the palm of one hand and quickly clap our other hand on top of the mint. This releases the mint’s fragrance and makes for an even more enjoyable drinking experience.

Now grab your preppy seersucker suit or fancy hat and sip away.

The peach mint juleps with a bunch of whole peaches in the background on sheer fabric.

Best Mint Julep Serving Glass

Traditionally, mint juleps come in pewter cups. The cups are designed for holding on the bottom or the top, which allows a frost to form on the outside. This is great for keeping our cocktail cold and refreshing on even the hottest days.

However, with the pretty peach color, I opted for the same cup design but in copper. If you want to get matchy-match like me, you can pick up the copper mint julep cups on Amazon.

If you don't have classic mint julep cups, don't worry one bit. You can simply use an old fashioned or highball glass.

Because of the muddling, I recommend a heavy-bottomed glass if you go this route. If you only have more a delicate glass, you might want to muddle in a cocktail shaker, pour the contents into your serving glass and then build the mint julep from there.

Looking down on two peach mint juleps on sheer fabric with soft lighting in the background.

Perfect Pairing

Feeling peachy? Let's keep up those summery vibes with this bourbon-peach clafoutis, which nicely mimics the same flavors of our cocktail.

Or maybe you want something savory. In that case, try my prosciutto-grilled peach pizza with pesto. Prosciutto boasts a slight sweetness and silky texture that pairs with the bourbon.

These stuffed peaches filled with creamy goat cheese and fresh basil are also a wonderful option. The basil and mint work beautifully together.

For even more pairings, I teamed up with several other talented food bloggers to bring you a collection of Kentucky Derby recipes -- all of which are delightful with this fruity julep. For the complete list, please visit the Kentucky Derby party food recipes roundup on Wine a Little Cook a Lot.

For a festive Kentucky Derby celebration, I hope you try this brown sugar-peach mint julep.

Cheers!

Two brown sugar-peach mint juleps with a bar spoon and peach slices next to them.

A close-up view of the brown-sugar peach mint julep with fresh peaches.

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Comments

5 from 81 votes (67 ratings without comment)