BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you're a fan of Hartman's Distilling Co. on Chicago Street, horse racing, or just mint juleps, this is an event for you.
The Buffalo business on Saturday is attempting to break the record for the world's largest mint julep. Hartman's will be serving up 207 gallons of the cocktail to customers.
The event started at 2 p.m. — roughly five hours before the Kentucky Derby post time — and $1 from every mint julep sold during Saturday will be donated to the Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center. A mint julep, if you didn't already know, is the traditional drink of choice for fans at the Kentucky Derby.
Joining 2 On Your Side on Friday afternoon during Most Buffalo was Justin Hartman, the owner and president of Hartman's Distilling Co.
Lauren Hall: You tried to do this for a couple years, right?
Hartman: Yes, it's an application process, and we've applied for a couple of years now, and we finally got accepted this year. So we're going forward.
Hall: To the Guinness Book of World Records. OK, so what is what's the deal with (Saturday)? Do they have to be there, on site, and how does it all work?
Hartman: So once they accepted us, we got a pack of about six documents of all the steps we had to follow to create the world's largest mint julep. We have to bring in a health inspector. We have to have a weights and scales specialist to certify all the weights the scales, and they have to make sure everything we say is going into the cocktail is really going into the cocktail.
Hall: And you brought some examples today. This is obviously just a normal sized one, but what is a mint julep anyway?
Hartman: A mint julep is two ounces of bourbon. Here, we have the Hartman straight bourbon whiskey, a half ounce of simple syrup, mint on the bottom, crushed ice, then more mint as garnish. So, this only requires two ounces of bourbon for a 12-ounce glass. For the 207-gallon glass that we've custom built, it's going to be 35 gallons of bourbon, nine gallons of simple syrup, over 20 pounds of mint, and roughly 600 pounds of crushed ice.
Hall: Do you know who holds the record now? And why did you want to break it?
Hartman: So, the official record is 158 gallons. However, Churchill Downs holds the unofficial record at 206, so we can beat Churchill Downs' record and grab them both.
Aside from the mint juleps, the Derby event includes an afternoon of horse racing, food and drink specials, live music, a DJ, giveaways for every race, plus contests for the best-dressed people and best hats.