Moscow Mule

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (275 ratings)

Serve in a Copper mug or Collins glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Ketel One Vodka
12 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
13 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
3 oz Thomas Henry Ginger Beer
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Copper mug or Collins glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lime slice wheel and mint sprigs bouquet.
  3. POUR first 3 ingredients into copper mug/glass and stir.
  4. Two-thirds fill vessel with cubed ice.
  5. TOP with ginger beer and crown with crushed ice.
  6. Garnish with lime slice and mint sprigs bouquet.
  7. Serve with a straw.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 5/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 5/10

Review:

"The vodka drink with a kick" is simply vodka and ginger beer with a squeeze of lime served over ice. This drink's all-important enlivening spice is provided by the ginger beer, so pick your brand wisely.

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History:

Part of the Buck family of cocktails, the Moscow Mule was created in 1941 - 1946 (the date and place of creation are disputed).

John G. Martin had recently (in 1939) acquired the rights to Smirnoff vodka for Heublein, a minor Connecticut-based liquor and food distributor. Meanwhile, Jack Morgan, a friend of his and owner of Hollywood's famous British pub, the Cock'n'Bull Saloon on Sunset Strip, was trying to launch his own brand of ginger beer, but sales were not going well.

Legend has it that the two men met at New York City's Chatham Bar and hit on the idea of mixing Martin's vodka with Morgan's ginger beer and adding a squeeze of lime (perhaps inspired by the Cuba Libre) to create the Moscow Mule.

Others, most notably Eric Felton in a 2007 article in the Wall Street Journal, say the drink was invented back in Hollywood at the Cock 'n' Bull by Wes Price, its head bartender. Price is said to have created the drink in an attempt to clear an overstock of ginger beer from the pub's basement. He served the new drink to actor Broderick Crawford, and the drink caught on from there.

Wes Price, apparently resigned from the Cock 'n' Bull in 1953 and is quoted as saying "I wasn't truly appreciated. I never got an extra cent for my invention".

What is sure is that the combination of vodka and ginger beer helped both Morgan and Martin shift their products, but the cocktail's success is greatly due to its being served in a copper mug specially engraved with a kicking mule. This initiative was driven by a girlfriend of Morgan's who'd recently inherited a copper factory that made the previously poorly selling copper mugs. The success of the Moscow Mule was most fortuitous for all three friends.

By 1947, when Edwin H. Land invented the Polaroid Land Camera, the Moscow Mule was already established on the drinks menus of numerous bars. Martin bought himself one of the instant cameras and went from bar to bar, photographing bartenders holding a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka in one hand and a copper mule mug in the other. He gave one photograph to the bartender and used a second to show the next neighbouring bar what they were missing out on. The Moscow Mule and the use of the Polaroid Camera was a stroke of marketing genius.

Nutrition:

One serving of Moscow Mule contains 220 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 10.8% alc./vol. (10.8° proof)
  • 18.9 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Peter McCarthy’s Avatar Peter McCarthy
23rd March 2024 at 02:27
A classic. Nothing too fancy, but a nice mule/ginger beer option if you want something lighter than the other variations, perhaps on a hot day.
Avery Garnett’s Avatar Avery Garnett
17th March 2024 at 18:14
It's sweetened ginger beer with some lime. Just...inferior to all the other mules.
Olga María Gómez Henderson’s Avatar Olga María Gómez Henderson
3rd March 2024 at 12:11
Why the first three ingredients are not shaken for this cocktail?
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
3rd March 2024 at 17:22
No reason not to shake, juts this cocktail is generally built rather than shaken.
Stephen Curtin’s Avatar Stephen Curtin
30th March 2023 at 08:03
Might I suggest an Irish Poteen variation... The Donegal Donkey. Donegal not just for the alliteration, but because Donegal was once famous for the quality of it's Poteen.
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
30th March 2023 at 08:14
Thanks, Stephen. Watch this pace.
Jimmy Fonseca ’s Avatar Jimmy Fonseca
16th June 2022 at 06:27
Is Moscow Mule a Buck's family cocktail? Thanks ?
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
16th June 2022 at 12:43
Yes! I've added a link at the start of 'History' above.
Matthew French’s Avatar Matthew French
26th December 2021 at 15:18
Since it was Christmas and I had cranberry juice, I added a shot and a dash of orange bitters - Christmas Mule! (alternatively, as it's a cross between a Moscow Mule and a Cosmopolitan, Cos-Play Mule!}
2nd October 2021 at 13:46
This is the first cocktail I ever had and the one that made me start my journey into the world of spirits.
25th November 2020 at 22:01
Made this and left out the sugar syrup in error - didn’t seem to miss it too much
7th October 2021 at 21:03
Personally i think its better without, thomas henry is sweet enough on its own...
14th July 2020 at 17:34
A cracking cocktail. The ginger beer warms, the li.e cuts through pleasantly. A well rounded, refreshing drink.