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Moscow Mule
If you want to blame one particular drink for the rapid growth of vodka, in North America, look no further than the Moscow Mule. It’s true that the Vodka Martini became the most popular vodka drink initially and spurred the premium vodka category, but it was the Moscow Mule that began the introduction of North Americans to vodka. Whether vodka is the greatest spirit ever, or the bane of bartenders, that’s for you to decide, but the Moscow Mule may be the drink that trumps the Vodka Martini when it comes to flavour.
The history of the Moscow Mule goes back to 1941 and was invented by John G. Martin of Heublein, Inc., of East Coast spirits, and Jack Morgan, owner of the Cock 'n' Bull Tavern, a bar on the Sunset strip in Los Angeles. As the story goes, John had recently acquired the right to sell Smirnoff vodka in the US and Jack had a surplus of ginger beer at his establishment. Voila, they now have a new drink. Eventually John Martin used the Moscow Mule to help promote vodka to bars across the US and this helped fuel the mainstream acceptance of vodka as the preferred white spirit, replacing gin.
The other gimmick that was used to market this drink was to serve it in a copper mug. The reason for this isn’t really know, but like anything, making something stand out from the crowd tends to help sales. With time, and the bad habit of people collecting (i.e. stealing) glassware from bars and restaurants as souvenirs, the copper mug is a thing of the past, much like the silver julep cup.
How to Make a Moscow Mule
2 oz Vodka
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
Dash Bitters
Top Ginger Beer
Pack a 12 oz collins glass full with ice, add vodka, lime juice, simple syrup and bitters. Fill the glass with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge and mint sprig.
Taste: When you use real ginger beer this drink has a spicy edge. Think about licking a piece of fresh cut ginger root. It also has a lot of citrus flavours from the lime which compliments the ginger beer. Please note that ginger ale will not work in the Moscow Mule. It is too mild to give the drink its spicy character.
The Moscow Mule isn’t a complicated drink, especially with the use of vodka as the spirit, but it is still pleasant on a hot summer day. Also, this is a good drink to demonstrate how bitters can make a difference when it comes to flavours. Without them, the drink seems to be missing something. Once you add the bitters the drink has more depth of flavour. So if you have some vodka you want to finish off and demonstrate to someone that a dash of bitters do make a difference, try a Moscow Mule.
85 Comments on Moscow Mule
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I like vodka and recently came across a recipe online for a French Martini. I am not familiar with it. Any thoughts?
Any commercially-made ginger beers that are particularly good? I picked up a bottle of Reed's ginger beer yesterday in order to make both a Moscow Mule and a Gin-Gin Mule. Ginger beer is scarce in stores around here.
The copper mug keeps the drink much colder and seems to impart a distinct flavor to the cocktail. They are much better in copper than in a glass!
If ginger beer is not available, you can do your own (there are recipes around)- or you can do a ginger syrup (peel and grate ginger and let simmer in simple syrup - then strain) and mix it with normal ginger ale! I like this "ginger beer" much more, as it has a fresher character but also benefits of the complexity of good ginger ale!
Normally a Moscow Mule is also not made with extra lime juice (but a large piece of lime - squeezed) or bitters, nor simple syrup...
Bitters though sounds like a great idea! And at the end we should think about, substituting the vodka, as there are many better and more complex spirits (gin, rum etc.) - a dark and stormy is very similar to a moscow mule (base spirit is Gosling black seal)!
A french martini is a mixture made from vodka, pineapple juice and chambord (shaking, Martini glass) or you try my variation called French'tini (I know, but I am really not creative in finding names for drinks): Pineapple vodka (you can do your own infusion or Van Gogh offer also a good one), lime cordial and Chambord!
I group the "Neo'tinis" more to a gimlet as to a martini - though I don't think that it makes sense to mix a 'tini with fresh juice... This variant is much more complex and straight forward than the popular version...
What's simple syrup ? Never heard of it before...