The Surprising Origins of the Moscow Mule

Screen Shot 2017-02-05 at 9.55.11 PMOne of the most popular cocktails right now is also one of the simplest. The Moscow Mule contains only three ingredients:
  – 2 oz vodka
  – the juice from half a lime (roughly 3/4 oz)
  – 4-6 oz ginger beer
  Stir and serve over ice in a copper mug.
The drink has everything an iconic cocktail should: short prep time, easy reproducibility, a number of possible variations, and an instantly recognizable presentation.

While so many cocktails have convoluted and mysterious origins, we know that the Moscow Mule was created by Jack Morgan and John Martin around 1941 (though there’s some debate around the exact date). Martin’s company distributed Smirnoff vodka, and Morgan, who owned the famed Cock’n’Bull tavern, produced a much sought-after ginger beer. The two men, along with Smirnoff president Rudolph Kunett, got the idea to combine their ingredients while drinking one night at the Chatham Hotel, and the drink became an instant hit in Hollywood. When the cocktail resurgence struck in the 2000s, this drink was a natural candidate to go mainstream: it contained a neutral spirit covered up with strong ingredients (thus appealing to the mask-the-flavor school of thought), but it also had a rich history and distinctive look (thus appealing to the vintage cocktail nerds). Of course, the wildest part is how this iconic drink is really just an older cocktail with only one ingredient changed

——–RECORD SCRATCH——–

Okay, adamant cocktail nerds already know this, but for many, this may be new information. This other cocktail, the Mamie Taylor, consists of blended scotch, ginger beer, and lime juice in exactly the same proportions as the Moscow Mule, and it predates the vodka drink by at least four decades. While there’s probably still a grain of truth to Martin and Morgan’s story, it’s pretty improbable that they just thought this drink up in a bar one night when an almost identical cocktail already existed. More likely, they modified a cocktail they already knew to include their ingredients, and this new cocktail’s reputation surpassed its predecessor due to great advertising and the wider appeal of vodka.

Screen Shot 2017-02-05 at 9.54.57 PMOf course, the Mamie Taylor probably took inspiration from yet another drink: the Horse’s Neck, a bourbon cocktail from the 1890s. I serve a variation of this drink to a lot of my guests under the name “Kentucky Mule,” since the “mule” naming convention has become so ubiquitous. It’s wild to think though: with all the variations and modifications this drink has gone through, almost 120 years later, the original flavor combination is still one of the best.

Now, I don’t bring any of this up to belittle the Moscow Mule or throw shade on its popularity. (In fact, I love this drink in all its variations.) I bring it up because of an old truism from Ecclesiastes 1: There is nothing new under the sun. In the cocktail world, modifying an existing recipe isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s encouraged.

For all our culture’s bluster about innovation, there’s something to be said for modification. Rather than coming up with something totally new, take principles that you already know work and try something new with them. Many of our greatest cocktails came from making slight modifications to classic recipes, so whether you like your ginger beer mixed with vodka, scotch, bourbon, or even brandy, your tastes are welcome and encouraged.

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