Moscow Mule

Created by

Jack Morgan of Cock 'N Bull Restaurant, Los Angeles, in 1941 with thanks to John G. Martin of Heublein Inc.

History (Myth?)

The Moscow Mule is a tale of marketing gone right in post-war America. To set the scene, Heublein Inc. was an East Coast food and spirits distributor. In the late 40s, just after World War II, John G. Martin (and Heublein) acquired the sole production and distribution rights to Smirnov vodka, originally from Russia and now in the hands of their WW2 allies, America. With an anglicized name of Smirnoff, Martin was tasked with the job of selling it to the general public. On a cross country trek, he soon began to feel the pressure of failure. Although there was an interest in vodka, there was no market for it.

While in Hollywood, Martin dropped into the Cock 'N Bull restaurant (owned by Jack Morgan) for dinner and drinks. Some twist of fate brought the two men together; Martin with his vodka, and Morgan with his less-than-profitable side enterprise of homebrew ginger beer. Morgan had another friend who was having problems selling her range of copper mugs from a factory she had inherited.

The three sat down and came up with an ingenius marketing ploy; a cocktail that used Martin's vodka and Morgan's ginger beer, served in the lady's fine copper mugs. With a garnish of a lime wedge and a twist of cucumber, the Moscow Mule was born.

Martin marketed the drink (and thus, the vodka) across America by taking a new invention called the polaroid camera to every bar he visited, whereby he asked the bartender to make the Moscow Mule, and then pose with the drink and the bottle of vodka for a photo. He then left one copy of the photo with the bar, and took a second copy to the other bars along the strip and showed the owners what their competition were up to.

Since the drink was created in the Cock 'N Bull, and the Cock 'N Bull was a "big star hangout on Sunshine Boulevard in Los Angeles" (Craft of the Cocktail, D.Degroff 2002 p.155) the drink quickly caught fire across the country due to the drawcard of star power. Over the years, the drink lost the cucumber twist as the extra garnish, but the lime wedge remains.

Historical Recipes

"Inside Hollywood" by Eith Gwynn, December 27, 1942

"There is a new drink that is a craze in the movie colony now. It is called "Moscow Mule." Recipe: equal parts Vodka, lime juice and ginger beer!..."

COCKTAIL AND WINE DIGEST

• by Oscar Haimo
• privately printed, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1950

1945 edition

• 2 oz Vodka
• 1 split Ginger Beer
• Crushed Ice
• Serve in mug
• Decorate with sprigs of mint

1950 edition

• 1/2 Lime Squeezed and Dropped in
• 2 oz Volka (sic)
• 1 split Ginger Beer or Canada Dry Ginger Ale.
• 2 Cubes Ice. Serve in mug. Stir

BUCKEYE TAVERN, "Patrick Murphy's The Barman's Corner," 11 May 1944, pg. 4, col. 2

"Since the primary purpose of this column is to keep the trade informed of mixtro news in particular and beverage lore in general, we hasten to report that a drink is being promoted in the Southwest. It's a brand promotion, but undoubtedly will click since it has a snappy name and its number one ingredient, vodka, is bought more easily in many areas than is gin or whiskey. The drink is a cooler built along Tom Collins lines, and here is the recipe as advertised:

MOSCOW MULE

1 oz. vodka, 10 oz. glass and chipped ice, a twist of lemon peel.

Note (GS): The absence of ginger beer in this recipe may just be a typo.

Smirnoff Advert 1948 (anecdote)

"Their recipe called for a generous 1 oz. shot of Smirnoff vodka in a 10 oz. copper mug, chipped ice, ginger beer, and a twist of lemon peel."

Common Recipes

Recipe #1: Cocktaildb.com

• Build
• 1 1/2 oz Vodka (4.5 cl, 3/8 gills)
• 3/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice (2 cl, 3/16 gills)
• Add 1/2 lime shell in glass (1 1/2 oz, 4.5 cl, 3/8 gills)
• Fill with ginger beer, ice

Serve in a copper mug (12.0 oz)

Recipe #2: Joy of Mixology, Gary Regan

• Build
• 2 oz vodka (60ml)
• 3 oz ginger beer (90ml)
• 2 lime wedges, for garnish

Serve in a copper mug

Recipe #3: Craft of the Cocktail, Dale DeGroff

• Build
• 1 1/2oz vodka
• 4 to 5oz ginger beer
• Lime wedge, for garnish

Serve in an iced glass

Contentious Issues Regarding This Cocktail

As can be seen by the history and Recipes 2 and 3, the original recipe calls for the lime to be used as a garnish rather than as an ingredient. However, customers may squeeze the lime wedge into the drink, or bartenders can offer to squeeze or muddle some lime in the glass, or alternatively add a small amount of lime juice. Rather than detract from the ginger bite of the drink, it actually enhances the overall mouth feel and taste of an otherwise alcoholic version of ginger beer. (Opinion, Adam)

References

CocktailTimes
Hotwired Cocktail Index, Paul Harrington - Defunct Link
Craft of the Cocktail, Dale DeGroff, Clarkson Potter Publishers, New York, USA, 2002