The Moscow Mule.
The Moscow Mule is one of those great drinks for any occasion. Weather it's a summer refresher your looking for or a wintery ginger kick that you're after, then The Moscow Mule is the drink for you.
The Moscow Mule, since its creation, has been hugely popular. There have been many twists on the old classic, by changing the main spirit, weather it's using brandy for a French Mule or tequila for a Mexican Mule it's difficult to get wrong, and is always a fantastic drink.
The Moscow Mule, since its creation, has been hugely popular. There have been many twists on the old classic, by changing the main spirit, weather it's using brandy for a French Mule or tequila for a Mexican Mule it's difficult to get wrong, and is always a fantastic drink.
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| A Bottle of Smirnoff Black Vodka. |
History
The creation of the of the Moscow Mule is somewhat disputed. In the research that I've done, I've found two main stories that stand out. Although one fact that remains consistent, is that it was originally created with Smirnoff vodka.
In 1934, Rudolf Kunnet secured the rights to Smirnoff from his friend Valdmir Smirnov, who was exiled from Russia to France during the Bolshevik Revolution, to produce his family vodka under the French spelling of his father's name, Piotr in America.
Kunnet struggled with Smirnoff due to it being unpopular at the time in the US. In 1939 Kunnet sold the rights to a Connecticut company called Heublin, run by John G Martin. Martin kept Kunnet on as an account executive when he bought the company.
The Creation of The Moscow Mule
The first story of its creation is that John G Martin had a friend, Jack Morgan who own a bar on Sunset Strip called Cock 'n' Bull. Morgan had at the time had a stock of ginger beer which he couldn't sell. In the mean time, Morgan's girlfriend Osleen Schmit had recently inherited a copper manufacturing company.
According to Martin, himself, Kunnet, Morgan and Schmit met in the Cock 'n' Bull one evening to create a drink with Smirnoff and ginger beer. They settled on two ounces of vodka in a copper mug topped with ginger beer with a squeeze of lime juice. How they created the name is somewhat a mystery but, Martin said "it had something to do with a kick".
The other story came to light in an article in The Wall Street Journal in 2007, in which it credits the Cock 'n' Bull's head bartender at the time, Wes Price, for creating the drink.Price says he came up
with the drink sometime in 1941 in an effort to "to clean the basement" which had at the time, a shipment of Smirnoff in it as well as an excess of ginger beer. The Moscow Mule became so popular Price even made the drink for actor Broderick Crawford. Price said of its rise in popularity "it caught on like wildfire".
with the drink sometime in 1941 in an effort to "to clean the basement" which had at the time, a shipment of Smirnoff in it as well as an excess of ginger beer. The Moscow Mule became so popular Price even made the drink for actor Broderick Crawford. Price said of its rise in popularity "it caught on like wildfire".
The Mule was hugely popular in America until the out break of World War 2, when production of Smirnoff stopped, and things were to get worse before they got better. The Cold War began and Americans began seeing the Moscow Mule as a Russian drink supporting Communism.
The Americans began avoiding the drink, but with the help of Smirnoff indicating that its vodka was not, and never had been a member of the Communist party, it survived the scare and was relaunched in 1965 as the 'Smirnoff Mule'.
The Americans began avoiding the drink, but with the help of Smirnoff indicating that its vodka was not, and never had been a member of the Communist party, it survived the scare and was relaunched in 1965 as the 'Smirnoff Mule'.
The Moscow Mule now enjoys its place in some of the top cocktail bars today.
Recipe
Knowing the original calls for regular Smirnoff, I'm actually going to use Smirnoff Black for this one. It was kindly given to me by a friend especially for this but, it's up to you which vodka you would like to use. Copper mugs are optional, but any long glass will do.
Moscow Mule
50ml Smirnoff Black.
20ml Lime juice.
Fill the glass with ice &
Top with Ginger Beer.
Garnish with a lime wheel
and a slice of fresh ginger.
References
http://www.diffordsguide.com
A Cock(tail) 'n' Bull Story, The Wall Street Journal 2007
Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails.
