Moscow Mule

 Moscow Mule

- jim Young

Autumn may be officially just around the corner but that doesn’t mean we won’t still be able to enjoy a few more sunny days of sitting in the backyard enjoying some fun summer drinks. For something just a little different, why not try a Moscow Mule?

From “Chapter 5: Common Cocktails” of my new book “Belly up to the Bar, Cocktails for Two”, the Moscow Mule isn’t really that common but it’s quick and easy to make.

In addition to cocktail recipes, as you will read below I try to provide a bit of the background of the origins of the cocktails along with some personal anecdotes and family stories.

If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of “Belly up to the Bar”, it’s available on Amazon or you can contact me at dogonaroot@gmail.com for more information.

Moscow Mule (1.5)

Stuff You’ll Need:

• 1½ oz Vodka

• ½ oz Lime Juice

• Ice cubes

• 4 oz Ginger Beer

• 1 Lime Wedge

Do This:

1. Add all of the ingredients except for the lime wedge into a highball glass and stir to mix.

2. Garnish with a lime wedge.

While a highball glass is just fine to serve this drink, the traditional vessel used for the Moscow Mule is a chilled, copper mug or tumbler.

Despite its Russian-sounding name, like the White Russian (found in “Chapter 8: Creamy Moo Moos”) or the Black Russian (also found in “Chapter 5: Common Cocktails”), the Moscow Mule was not invented in Russia.

John G. Martin, president of the firm that had recently purchased the Smirnoff Vodka brand, was looking for a way to boost sales of his failing line.

Bar owner Jack Morgan was overstocked with his line of Cock ’n Bull ginger beer inventory that he needed to unload and Sophie Berezinski had a large inventory of copper mugs from her father’s factory in Russia.

In 1941 the three met for drinks at Morgan’s bar the Cock ’n Bull on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip and collaborated to resolve their individual dilemmas by inventing the Moscow Mule.

“Moscow” was selected to represent the origins of vodka and “Mule” was chosen to describe the kick that the drink delivered.

Having purchased one of the earliest Polaroid cameras Martin set out on what became one of the most effective marketing campaigns in history. Travelling from bar to bar Martin would convince a bartender to make a Moscow Mule then take photos of him drinking it from a copper mug.

One photo was left with the bartender to display and the other Martin took with him to add to his growing collection. The bigger his photo collection grew to show at the next bar the easier it was to convince bartenders of the growing popularity of the Moscow Mule.

Whether or not this was a cock ’n bull story created to help his promotions, Smirnoff sales tripled between 1947 and 1950 and then doubled again from 1950 to 1951 during a time when vodka was a very unpopular spirit in the Western World.