In short
Since ginger beer (or spicy ginger soda) has become widely available here as well, the Moscow Mule has spread quickly. Whether served in a copper mug or a glass, with or without cucumber, it has built a solid fan base—also at our mobile cocktail bar. A good reason to take a closer look at how it came to be and why it’s called what it’s called.
Smirnoff: Moscow, revolution, and the road to the U.S.
Despite its name, the Moscow Mule has little to nothing to do with Russia—except for the fact that the vodka brand Smirnoff, which (as we’ll see) played a role in the drink’s creation, was founded in 1886 by Pyotr Arsenyevich Smirnov in Moscow.1 After the October Revolution, the family was dispossessed and fled abroad. Economic troubles led to the brand being sold in 1935 to Rudolph Kunett, who then sold it on to the American spirits company G. F. Heublein Brothers Inc.2
Cock’n Bull, ginger beer, and a marketing problem
Kunett is said to have introduced John Gilbert Martin, the owner of Heublein Brothers, to Jack Morgan. Morgan ran a restaurant in Los Angeles called Cock’n Bull and had his own ginger beer produced for it.3 At the time, both vodka and ginger beer were relatively unknown in the U.S. and therefore difficult to sell. Together they looked for a way to market both products more successfully—and according to the story, the Moscow Mule recipe was born in this context.
The copper mug in which the drink is traditionally served quickly became a trademark and still draws attention today. Either the mug idea came via Oseline Schmidt, a friend of Jack Morgan,4 or—according to another story—via the Russian emigrant Sophie Berezinski, who was trying to sell a shipment of 2,000 copper mugs.5
Mixing alcohol with ginger beer and lime juice wasn’t a huge leap, since there were already known templates such as “highballs” (spirit + ginger ale), “rickeys” (spirit + soda + lime), and “Mamie Taylors” (scotch, ginger ale, lime juice). In the post-war years from 1946 onward, Martin reportedly promoted the drink by photographing bartenders with it and then showing the photo at the next bar—so they’d make and serve a Moscow Mule there as well.
Why is it called “Moscow Mule”?
We found an interesting explanation for the name: During Prohibition, an unaged or illicitly distilled whiskey—essentially the raw distillate—was referred to as “White Mule”. This term is said to have originated with the Cherokee in Arkansas, who described local whiskey as being “made by white men and equipped with the destructive power of the western mule.” It’s easy to imagine Morgan and Martin thinking of “White Mule” when it came to an unaged grain distillate like vodka.6
Cucumber: does it belong?
Finally, a few thoughts on cucumber: as described above, cucumber originally had no place in a Moscow Mule. It’s said to be thanks to Munich and its variation, the “Munique Mule”, that cucumber has made its way into many Moscow Mule versions today.7
It’s a similar phenomenon to the gin & tonic, which for a while was often requested and served with cucumber—regardless of whether it suited the particular gin. Part of it is visual: cucumber stands out more in a drink than, say, a small lime wedge. But there’s also this: if it didn’t work flavor-wise, it wouldn’t have stuck. Cucumber does seem to harmonize with the heat of ginger and the acidity of lime—perhaps as a kind of bridge or catalyst …
In our view, the copper mug can easily be replaced with a glass. If you enjoy the ritual, of course you can celebrate it at home. In cocktail catering, it would only increase the workload unnecessarily, lead to higher losses :-)—and in a glass the drink, in our opinion, comes across much better.
Our recipe
- Fill a highball glass with ice cubes
- 4–5 cl Smirnoff vodka
- Juice of half a lime
- Top up with Thomas Henry Spicy Ginger
- Add cucumber slices and a lime slice
With spicy greetings,
your moving bars team