The Mint Julep’s Washington Story Begins at the Willard
By D.C. Crawling
A mint julep is easy to recognize by its mint and its silver cup. Its Washington story is less obvious: the Willard’s own timeline credits Kentucky statesman Henry Clay with introducing the drink outside Kentucky at the Round Robin Bar in 1830. One glass leads straight into the capital’s long habit of doing business, socializing and making history around a table.
D.C. Crawling explores the same White House neighborhood through its taverns, political characters and stories that rarely make the monument plaques. The Round Robin is a nearby piece of that social history, not a promised stop on our changing crawl route.
A hotel corner with more than one beginning
The Willard’s location has hosted a hotel since the early days of the city. Its history timeline says a row house built at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in 1816 was leased for hotel use. Over the next three decades, the name and operator changed several times. The Willard brothers took over in 1847, and the hotel became a gathering place for people visiting the nation’s capital.
That timeline places Clay’s mint-julep story in 1830, before the Willard brothers’ chapter began. It is a useful reminder that a historic landmark can be a series of buildings and businesses layered on one address, not a frozen scene from a single year. The hotel itself now describes the julep as its signature drink, keeping the old story visible in the present-day bar.
Henry Clay brings a Kentucky drink to Washington
Clay was a Kentucky senator with a reputation as a powerful political figure. The Willard credits him with introducing the mint julep beyond his home state at its Round Robin Bar. The hotel’s historical timeline lists the moment under 1830, while Destination DC’s historic-hotel guide also connects Clay and the drink to the Round Robin.
The appeal is not just the recipe. A drink becomes a local story when you can attach it to a person, a place and a reason people gathered there. The Round Robin Bar sits inside a hotel that hosted presidents, diplomats and political meetings. The room’s history gives a familiar cocktail a very Washington setting: a public place where private conversations and national decisions kept bumping elbows.
The lobbyist legend needs a careful pour
The Willard also tells a famous story about President Ulysses S. Grant, who supposedly used the hotel lobby as a place to take a break from visitors. People seeking his attention gathered there, and the hotel says Grant helped popularize the word “lobbyist.” The word has a history of its own: Merriam-Webster dates its first known use to 1842, before Grant became president. So the safer version is that the Willard is tied to a memorable popularization story, not that Grant invented the word.
That distinction makes the tale better, not worse. Washington has always been a city where legend, politics and hospitality share the same room. A hotel lobby full of visitors trying to catch the president’s ear is easy to picture; a tidy one-person origin story for a word is harder to defend.
Visit the Round Robin with the right expectations
The Round Robin Bar remains part of the Willard experience, and the hotel lists its location on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. If you want to see the space or order a mint julep, check the hotel’s current hours, access guidance and menu before going. Hotel bars can have changing schedules and service arrangements, so an old story does not guarantee today’s seating or availability.
The Round Robin is not advertised as a stop on the D.C. Crawling public tour. Our route uses four bars and local pubs near the White House, and the exact venues can change with availability. The historical connection is the neighborhood itself: people have gathered near the executive mansion for generations, and taverns have always provided a place to talk, bargain, celebrate and occasionally overstay a drink.
Take the neighborhood story a few blocks farther
The Insider’s Pub Crawl gives adults a guided route through the area’s tavern stories. It runs daily at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and lasts 2 hours and 15 minutes. The public tour visits four bars, covers a few blocks, and begins at 1601 H Street NW near Lafayette Square. Guests must be 21 or older and bring valid identification. Drinks are paid for separately, and purchasing one is optional.
The Willard’s julep story makes a good independent stop before or after your crawl, depending on the hotel’s current schedule. Then let your guide take the history into other corners of the neighborhood. See the Insider’s Pub Crawl details and bring your curiosity; Washington’s best stories have a habit of checking into the hotel bar.