Buck Cocktails

Buck, and also called a mule (due to the popularity of the Moscow Mule, which is a vodka buck), is a slightly antiquated name for a family of historic mixed drinks that involve ginger ale or ginger beer, citrus juice, and any of a number of base liquors. The origin of the cocktail is obscure. It may be traced back to the Buck's Fizz, a cocktail made with orange juice and champagne. Another theory is that it evolved from the Horses Neck, a drink that originally was just ginger beer and a lemon peel. Adding a spirit gave the drink a "kick," hence the horse became a buck. The first change in spirit appears to have been the Horses Collar that subbed brandy for whiskey.

Variations include:

• Rum buck, also called a Jamaica Buck or Barbados Buck to indicate the origin of the rum. A Shanghai Buck was a popular rum buck cocktail in the 1930s-'40s. Adding lime juice to a Dark and Stormy creates a rum buck.
• Gin Gin Mule, also known as a London buck or a Ginger Rogers (after the actress of the same name)
• Whiskey bucks include Kentucky Buck (Bourbon), Andrew Jackson (Tennessee whiskey), Joe Buck (corn whiskey), and Mamie Taylor (Scotch)
• Vodka buck, also known as a Moscow Mule, invented in Los Angeles, California, and largely responsible for the popularity of vodka in the United States from the 1940s through 1960s.
• Tequila buck, also called El Burro, El Diablo or Mexican Burro

External Links

• Bucks, Mules and Their Ilk - Badass Digest