Moscow Mule Recipe

Before you start

The Moscow Mule is a simple highball of vodka, fresh lime and ginger beer, served over lots of ice. Vodka stays in the background, so the ginger beer and lime carry the flavor. That makes it one of the few vodka drinks where your mixer choice matters more than your spirit. Choose a ginger beer with real heat and only moderate sugar.

The copper mug is part of the drink's image. It gets very cold quickly, which people enjoy, but copper can leach into acidic drinks. Choose a mug lined on the inside with stainless steel or nickel, or simply use a highball glass. The drink tastes the same either way.

Ingredients

• 60 ml (2 oz) vodka
• 15 ml (½ oz) fresh lime juice
• 120 ml (4 oz) ginger beer — chilled
• 1 mug ice cubes
• 1 lime wedge and mint sprig — garnish

Method

1. Fill a lined copper mug or highball glass with ice.
2. Add the vodka and lime juice over the ice.
3. Top with chilled ginger beer, pouring slowly to keep as much fizz as possible.
4. Stir gently once or twice with a bar spoon to combine, lifting from the bottom.
5. Garnish with a lime wedge and a mint sprig.

Tips for success

• Squeeze fresh lime. Bottled lime juice makes the drink taste flat and slightly bitter.
• Crushed ice is common in copper mugs; cubes melt more slowly and keep the drink fizzier.
• A hotter ginger beer lets you cut the lime slightly and keeps the drink from tasting like soda.

Substitutions

Vodka

Bourbon makes a Kentucky Mule; tequila makes a Mexican Mule; dark rum turns it into something close to a Dark 'n' Stormy.

Ginger beer

A strong homemade ginger syrup plus soda water gives more control over sweetness and heat.

Lime juice

Lemon makes a softer, rounder drink that is still pleasant.

Variations

Cucumber Mule

Muddle 3 cucumber slices in the mug before adding ice.

Berry Mule

Muddle 4 raspberries or blackberries with the lime juice before building.

Troubleshooting

It tastes like sweet soda

Pick a spicier, less sweet ginger beer and add 5 ml more lime.

It went flat fast

Use cold, freshly opened ginger beer and stir only once or twice.

It is too strong

Use 45 ml vodka and top with a little more ginger beer.

Storage

Serve right away. Opened ginger beer loses carbonation within a day or two even when capped and refrigerated.

Safety notes

The 60 ml pour of 40% ABV vodka equals about 1.4 U.S. standard drinks (a standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol). Avoid serving acidic drinks in unlined copper; choose a lined mug or a glass. Serve only to adults of legal drinking age and never drink and drive.