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Home » Mixed Drinks

Jun 13, 2023 by Kristin

French Mule

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Looking for a slightly sweeter lightly fruity variation of the classic Moscow mule? Try out this French mule which lets a little cognac or brandy shine through.

French mule on a wooden table with mint in the mug.
Jump to:
  • 🥃 What is a French Mule?
  • ⭐ When to Make This Drink
  • 📖 Variations
  • 🥄 Equipment
  • 📋 Ingredients
  • 👩🏻‍🍳 Instructions
  • Recipe

🥃 What is a French Mule?

A French mule is a combination of brandy or cognac, lime juice and ginger beer which is typically topped with a sprig of mint and served in a copper mug. This slightly spicy and fizzy cocktail is extremely refreshing and has a nice smooth fruity flavor blended in.

This drink is a variation of the traditional Moscow mule. Like other mule variations such as the Tennessee mule or the Jamaican mule, this drink substitutes vodka for a different liquor. The liquor used in this drink is cognac or brandy.

Mule drinks are traditionally served in copper mugs. Not only is copper mug a part of tradition, but it also serves a purpose. The copper mugs help to really insulate the cold and a drink helping it to stay icy cold the entire time you’re sipping it. The sensation of the cold copper is a nice added tactile experience for this drink.

However, don’t feel like you have to skip making this one if you don’t have copper mugs. You can most certainly serve it in other glassware if you prefer.

All you need to make this drink is to pour your ingredients together and get to sipping. There’s no stirring or shaking required.

As mentioned, the liquor used in this drink is Brandy or Cognac. Brandy is typically made from distilling wine or another type of fermented fruit. It typically has a lightly sweet flavor. Cognac is simply a type of brandy that is made in a very specific region of France.

While either the work well for this drink, we really enjoy a nice cognac as it is very smooth and has a light fruity flavor.

⭐ When to Make This Drink

This drink can certainly be served at a wide variety of times including:

  • Cocktail hour
  • Brunch
  • Parties or celebrations
  • After dinner drinks

📖 Variations

If you’re interested in changing this one up a little, try one or more of these ideas out:

  • Don’t use store bought lime juice. Instead of buying your lime juice to the store, squeeze your own. Squeezing your own juice is simple and it has a much fresher flavor.
  • Add an additional fruit flavor. Moscow mules and all the variations can have additional juice added in to change up the flavor. Try out an orange juice or even a cherry juice to complement the brandy or cognac.
  • Use a flavored Brandy. There are wide variety of brandy flavors including peach, blackberry and apple. Try out your favorite fruit flavor in this drink.

🥄 Equipment

  • Copper Mug
  • jigger

📋 Ingredients

  • 2 oz Brandy or Cognac
  • 4 oz Ginger beer
  • .5 oz Lime juice
  • Top with mint leaves
  • Ice
Copper mug filled with ice next to a jigger, mint leaves and bottles of cognac, ginger beer and lime juice.

👩🏻‍🍳 Instructions

Step one

Gather up everything you need including copper mug, lime juice, ice, jigger, Brandy, mint sprig and ginger beer.

Step two

Toss enough ice into the mug so that it is filled up to the top.

Pouring lime juice into a jigger.

Step three

Snatch up the lime juice and use a jigger to measure 0.5 oz. Dump the lime juice into the mug.

Pouring cognac into a copper mug.

Step four

Snatch up the brandy or cognac and use a jigger to measure 2 oz. Dump the brandy or cognac into the mug.

Pouring ginger beer into a copper mug.

Step Five

Snatch up the ginger beer and used jigger to measure 4 oz. Dump the ginger beer into the mug.

If you want, you can skip the measuring and simply pour the ginger beer into the mug topping it off.

Place the sprig of mint on top of the drink and enjoy.

Recipe

French mule on a wooden table with mint in the mug.
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

French Mule

Prep Time5 minutes mins
Course: Drinks
Keyword: French Mule
Servings: 1

Equipment

  • jigger
  • Copper Mug

Ingredients

  • 2 oz Brandy or Cognac
  • 4 oz Ginger Beer
  • .5 oz Lime Juice
  • top with Mint Leaves

Instructions

  • Dump a handful or so of ice into the copper mug. The mug should be filled to the top with ice.
  • Grab the Brandy or Cognac and use the jigger to measure out 2 oz. Pour that into the mug.
  • Grab the Lime Juice and use the jigger to measure out .5 oz. Pour that into the mug.
  • Grab the Ginger Beer and use the jigger to measure out 4 oz. Pour that into the mug.
  • Top the drink off with a sprig of mint or a few mint leaves and enjoy!

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