BUFFALO, N.Y. — Although Mystik Dan was the big winner of this year's Kentucky Derby, here in Buffalo it may have been Hartman's Distilling Company.
In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Kentucky Derby, Hartman's was given the green light to try and set the Guinness World Record for the largest Mint Julep.
The Distillery claims it was successful, creating a 207-gallon version of the classic derby day beverage. That colossal cocktail contained 35 gallons of bourbon, 9 gallons of simple syrup, more than 400 pounds of crushed ice, and 10 pounds of mint.
"We built that, it took two hours to build, but we built that earlier today." Hartman Co-Owner Justin Hartman tells 2 On Your Side, "We had a weights and measurements professional from Buffalo Scale on-site. We had the Erie County Health Department on site. It was all certified, and we did it, we broke the world record. The official was only 158, but the unofficial was 206, held by Churchhill Downs, so we had to make sure we broke both."
When all was said and done, the julep was poured into glasses and served to the thirsty crowd at Hartman's annual derby party. One dollar from every drink sold was donated to the Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center.
We'll keep you posted if Hartman's actually secures the record, and gets the approval from Guinness.