The Moscow Mule

Have you ever had a Moscow Mule? (It's a drink, btw...)
About a year ago my sister-in-law, Luisa, made them for us and it's been a hit every since! If you ever wondered how, what, when, why, or anything about the Moscow Mule..keep reading!

Not too long ago, there were very few bars keeping ginger beer in inventory. That’s ginger BEER, (not to be confused with ginger ale) one of the main ingredients in the comeback kid of cocktails. History is repeating itself. And this time, it’s coming back with gifts of alcohol in hand! History, you’re such a good gift-giver! So, what’s in the gift box? It’s the Moscow Mule and it’s quickly becoming the #1 answer to the bartender’s question, “What can I get you to drink?”

First a history Lesson:

The first known mention of the Moscow Mule is from the "Inside Hollywood" newspaper column, written by Eith Gwynn. It was the 27th of December in 1942, and Eith wrote^(1):

"There is a new drink that is a craze in the movie colony now. It is called "Moscow Mule." Recipe: equal parts Vodka, lime juice and ginger beer..."

The Moscow Mule was invented in 1941, by good drinking men. Way back when, John Martin, who had recently purchased the Smirnoff recipe from Russia, walked into Cock ‘n’ Bull restaurant on Sunset Strip where he was greeted by owner and ginger beer maker, Jack Morgan. Both were having trouble selling their products, vodka and ginger beer, (Oh how times have changed…) so decided to combine the two, add a touch of lime to be fancy, pour it in a shiny copper mug to be extra fancy, and the Moscow mule was officially born.

The drink popularity spread like drunken wild fire and became a poster child for Vodka in the 1950s and early 1960s (think Mad Men and vintage Playboy magazine ads). What comes up must come down, and just like anything else, the next best thing came around, pushing the Moscow Mule cocktail on to the endangered species list of cocktails.

Rewind to 2012 and the Moscow Mule was brought back to life by the Big O, Oprah Winfrey, when she included a Moscow Mule Kit in her Favorite Things List. Now, the refreshing and super simple Moscow Mule is a worldwide favorite.

There are four components to the Moscow Mule, one being the copper mug it’s served in. The others are vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice. With such a simple recipe, it’s hard to mess up a Moscow Mule, kind of like a gin and tonic, but bars all around are making this classic cocktail their own. Adding and substituting ingredients to make blueberry mules, cucumber mules, gin-gin mules, and a myriad of other variations.  

Now that I have you drooling for some Moscow mules, here are a couple recipes sure to quench that thirst, because it’s real!

The Official IBA recipe for a MoscowMule:

45 ml Vodka
120 ml Ginger beer
5 ml Lime juice, fresh
1 slice of lime to garnish

Combine vodka and ginger beer. Add lime juice, garnish with lime slice

Blueberry Moscow Mule recipe

1 cup ginger beer
1 shot ginger vodka
juice of one lime wedge
blueberry syrup (recipe below)

Directions

Pour the ginger beer, vodka and lime juice in a copper cup and stir. Add in the ice and then pour a little blueberry syrup on the top. Give it another stir and garnish with blueberries and a lime wedge.

Blueberry Syrup
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

Bring the ingredients to a boil for 5 minutes, then let it simmer for another 10 minutes until it thickens. Strain over a glass bowl and let it cool.

XOXO

Refererence (1): https://web.archive.org/web/20070314000752/http://www.thinkingbartender.com/bartenderthinking/2007/01/moscow_mule.html