Moscow Mule Cocktail

If you’re looking for a refreshing and spicy cocktail try out this classic Moscow mule. This is an easy to make drink that will leave your taste buds dazzled.

What is a Moscow Mule Cocktail?

A Moscow mule cocktail is a combination of ice, lime juice, ginger beer and vodka. It is typically topped with mint leaves and or a lime wedge for garnish. It is a sweet fizzy ginger flavor with a little bite of vodka as it goes down and a nice hint of refreshing mint.

The Moscow mule dates back to the 1940s. This drink is actually technically a type of buck drink which are drinks which combine liquor with ginger beer or ginger ale. So, you could technically call this a vodka buck.

You’ll typically see it served in a pretty copper mug which really helps to insulate and keep it cold and refreshing. However, if you don’t have a copper mug available you can certainly serve it in any other type of glassware.

This cocktail is a classic and has created a lot of spin-offs that substitute different liquors for the vodka including the Irish mule, Mexican mule and gin gin mule.

The vodka in this cocktail provides all of the liquor content. Vodka is known for being rather neutral flavored. So the ginger beer, lime and mint in this cocktail are the overwhelming flavors, don’t skip too much on the vodka or you will be able to taste a very strong alcohol flipper. Try to use a mid-priced vodka for this drink to keep it smooth.

Ginger beer is a drink that doesn’t have any alcohol content despite the beer in its name. It is a combination of ginger, carbonation, sugar, water and a few other ingredients.

It has a sweet, fizzy and strong spicy ginger flavor. Try to choose a high quality ginger beer for this drink since it is the predominant flavor.

When to Make This Drink:

This drink is a fun addition for a variety of occasions including:

• after dinner drinks
• afternoon sipping
• cocktail hour
• summer or spring celebrations

Variations:

So you don’t want to change things up too much in this drink especially since it is an IBA standard, there are a few ideas you can try:

• Use freshly squeezed lime juice. Skip the store bought bottle lime juice and squeeze out some of your own lime juice. This will lend to a fresher taste.
• Use a flavored vodka. Though that will detract a little from the traditional flavor of this cocktail you can use different flavored vodkas to make drinks such as grape Moscow mule, raspberry mule or cherry mule.
• Make it a little sweet. Though this would be a deviation from the IBA standard, if you want to add a little more sweetness you can add a little simple syrup to the drink. Or compliment the flavors by using a ginger simple syrup or mint simple syrup.

How to make this drink:

This drink is super easy to make If you have 3 to 5 minutes you can get it ready to go. You don’t even need to do any shaking for this cocktail.

Equipment:

• Copper Mug
• jigger

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Vodka
• 4 oz Ginger beer
• .5 oz Lime juice
• Top with mint leaves
• Ice

Instructions:

Step one

Start out by ensuring you have everything necessary for this cocktail including copper mug or other glassware, sprig of mint, lime juice, ginger beer, vodka, jigger and ice.

Step two

Toss enough ice into your copper mug or other glassware so that the ice tops it off.

Step three

Grab the vodka. Use the jigger to measure up 2 oz of vodka and dump it into the mug.

Step four

Grab the lime juice. Use a jigger to measure 0.5 oz of lime juice and dump it into the mug.

Step Five

Grab the ginger beer. Use a jigger to measure 4 oz of ginger beer and dump it into the mug.

Place your sprig of mint in the top of the glass and enjoy.

Recipe