Moscow Mule Recipe
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The Moscow Mule is a vodka-based cocktail with the unusual addition of ginger beer. Vodka was still relatively unknown outside Russia and Central Europe in the years following World War II. Heublein president John Martin had recently purchased the Smirnoff name and recipe for his American company, and he was out to promote his new product. As the story goes, Martin stopped off for dinner and drinks at the Cock ’n’ Bull on Sunset Strip, where his friend, owner Jack Morgan, was struggling to sell his homemade ginger beer. Add to the mix another friend who had inherited a large collection of copper mugs—and shake with a massive dose of publicity and a wedge of lime—and you have the Moscow Mule. In one of the most successful marketing ploys in tippling history, Martin combined three seemingly hopeless endeavors into one of the most popular cocktails of the 1950s and early 1960s. He even got stars like Woody Allen to promote his concoction. But as popular as it was, the Moscow Mule has now entered the “endangered species list” and is rarely seen outside of vintage ads in old issues of Playboy magazine.
- 1 1/2 ounces vodka
- Wedge of lime
- Cold ginger beer
- Pour the vodka into a copper mug or an iced glass. Squeeze the lime over the vodka, and drop the wedge into the mug. Fill the glass with the ginger beer.
Variation
Mobile Mule: Substitute 2 ounces light rum for the the vodka.
This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food
team.
Copyright Quirk Books
I have seen these on cocktail menus all over NYC. They are rising from obscurity!
Don't forget to get the copper mugs. Russian standard is offering them here: <a href="http://russianstandardmoscowmule.com/... Mule</a> Mugs.
The recipe above is missing a vital ingredient - Angostura Bitters! This adds extra depth and helps to bring out the spice in the ginger beer. There is a better Moscow Mule recipe and some excellent variations on the basic Mule formula here:
http://www.mixshakeandpour.com/nindex...
This is a Moscow Mule variant made with Sub Rosa Spirits' Saffron vodka, which adds a touch of cumin, coriander, ginger, black peppercorn and cayenne pepper to the flavor profile.
Kerala Mule
Stir together 2 oz Sub Rosa Saffron vodka
Squeeze anywhere from a large wedge to half a lime lime over the vodka, and drop the wedge into the mug. 1/4 to 1 ounce lime juice.
Add 3 oz. or more ginger beer over with ice in a Collins or Highball glass.
This is a Moscow Mule variant using artisan Sub Rosa Spirits spicy elixir. Garnish with lime wedge or sprig of mint. Your regular grocery store ginger ale such as Schweppes or Canada Dry are too sweet and not very gingery at all. Don't even bother using those. Same thing if you are making a Dark and Stormy. You need a strong 'ginger beer' made for mixing like Stewart's or Cock 'n Bull. Personally, I am not a huge Reeds fan, but it's a damn sight better than the wuusie barely gingered ale from the soda pop mega bottlers.
the cock and bull (original on sunset strip) claimed to have invented and to have created it toward the end of the second world war - i think they said 1944 - andit was a tribute to the allies - Russian vodka and British ginger beer. a drink to beat the axis..
They also claimed it was the first American vodka-based cocktail.
Not in a copper mug, but I just had one of these at Silvertone in Boston, as it was on their menu and I had read about it. Both my sister and I both had the initial reaction of ginger=sushi but after we realized where that came from, it was a very tasty beverage. Will order it more often when I see it's being offered!
Had an amazing version at Ford's Filling Station. Vanilla Vodka, Lemonade and Ginger Beer. AWESOME
Must serve in a copper mug!!
ok, I like vodka and ginger beer, but it's summer and I'd probably prefer a Dark n Stormy or a vodka and tonic.
I have done it with GIN and grapfruit juice with a touch of the ginger, it is a great summer drink.
You can still get Cock and Bull brand ginger beer here in Los Angeles (it is like the original)...I spent many nights at the Cock and Bull in my youth...drinking moscow mules...usually watching either Richard Burton or Dean Martin at the bar (sometimes under the bar!!) and enjoying the the wonderful buffets in the restaurant...I sometimes long for the old days!
i love these. these are incredibly well-known, if not necessarily very popular nowadays, in Japan of all places. thats where i first had them anyway. very tasty and very...invigorating. the snap of the ginger along with the carbonation really lifts you up and MAKES YOU THINK that youre not too drunk. lovely drink.