John Dabney

John Dabney (c.1824–1900) was the most famous mint julep maker in 19th-century America. Born enslaved in Virginia, he tended bar in Richmond hotels before and after Emancipation, and his juleps — built in chilled silver cups, packed with shaved ice, and crowned with a bouquet of mint and seasonal fruit — were nationally famous. The Prince of Wales drank one in Richmond in 1860.

Dabney earned enough money behind the bar to purchase his own freedom and the freedom of his wife and children. After Emancipation he ran the bar at the Ballard House and later opened his own restaurants. He is the proof that the American cocktail tradition was, at its technical apex, Black-built.