Derby Day at RainyDay

Fancy hats, mint juleps, and friends from all over!

Posted on May 2, 2021 by Carolyn Donovan and Wan Chi Lau in RainyDayCocktails, RainyDayEvents, RainyDayKitchen // 0 Comments

To celebrate the 147th Run for the Roses, RainyDayMagazine hosted a small gathering complete with mint juleps, fancy hats, and vegan-friendly tasty bits.

This was our first RainyDayEvent since the start of the pandemic. While we were eager to bring everyone together, we kept the in-person group to a small vaccinated few (3 fully vaccinated guests IRL and 5 more attending remotely). Those dialing in remotely ranged from other parts of New England, LA, and even Bermuda!

The Mint Juleps

The mint julep has been associated with Churchill Downs racetrack and the Kentucky Derby since 1938. Since 2006, special charitable mint juleps sponsored by Woodford Reserve, served in silver and gold-plated cups with silver straws, at a cost of $1,000–$2,500 each (you read that right), are offered during the Derby to raise money to support causes dedicated to retired race horses.

We celebrated in that spirit by offering our on-site guests mint juleps made using the same recipe.

Woodford Reserves’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has more than 200 detectable flavor notes, from bold grain and wood, to sweet aromatics, spice, and fruit & floral notes, and absolutely delicious when used to make this year’s Cherries and Cream Mint Julep.

After the race, the RainyDay “bar” was opened to whatever our guests wanted. Having Proof syrups on hand enabled our guests to make a variety of cocktails quickly and simply. Much more convenient in a party situation and always resulted in perfect cocktails!

NOTE: RainyDayMagazine readers interested in “Proofing” it to themselves are encouraged to use this one-time 10% discount code (RAINYDAYCOCKTAILS ) when ordering.

The Food

Beyond Meat Sliders and Trader Joe’s meatless meat balls in Bourbon BBQ sauce satisfied even the meat-eaters amongst the group. Both were simple to make, easy to serve, and delicious to eat with one hand…perfect for Derby Day.

The Race

The Brad Cox-trained Essential Quality, with four wins on its way to the Derby, was odds-on favorite to win at 2-1.

However, Medina Spirit (15-1) pulled off an upset, holding off the rest of the field for the most of the race on its way to the winner’s circle!

Mandaloun (15-1) and Hot Rod Charlie (8-1) finished 2nd and 3rd. The favorite, Essential Quality, came in 4th.

The Guests

Since the 1800s, ladies and gentlemen have been wearing their best and brightest to Churchill Downs for the Run for the Roses. While we were a little more casual than that, most of us went for a similar style, even though they dialed in to our event from home 🙂

It’s great that technologies like Zoom and Google Meet enable us to “get together” virtually when we cannot be so in real life, but we so look forward to the day when we can all celebrate IN PERSON!

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