Ironically, the Moscow Mule is not of Russian descent. It's a red-blooded American drink, cooked up in Los Angeles in 1941 at the Cock 'n' Bull bar by two men: one, the bar manager, and the other, a Smirnoff exec who wanted to sell vodka to Americans. Or perhaps it was the Cock 'n' Bull's bartender, who claimed he made up the recipe to help offload cases of ginger beer that were cluttering up his basement. Either way—or neither way, as cocktail history is always wonky—it got very popular among the Hollywood elite, and according to drinks historian David Wondrich, helped America get acquainted with vodka. (That, and the Bloody Mary.) The Moscow Mule's iconic copper mug came from the Cock 'n' Bull's idea factory as well. Hell of a marketing technique. And through nearly 80 years—and a scare about copper mug poisoning—it's still the vessel in which bartenders serve up a Moscow Mule. The fun ones, anyway.
Pour 2oz vodka into the mule mug.
Juice or squeeze 1/2 of a lime into the mule mug (this should produce about 1/2oz of juice). Fill the mug almost all the way to the top with crushed ice.
Top off with 4oz of ginger beer and garnish your mule with a slice of lime + a few sprigs of mint.
Then Enjoy!
