Mule

What is a mule?

The mule is the most famous buck: vodka, ginger beer and lime, built and served in the famous copper mug. The Moscow mule was born in the 1940s in Los Angeles, at the Cock 'n' Bull bar, where ginger beer met a vodka that was still struggling in America at the time. The success is well documented: the drink made vodka respectable in the USA, and the copper mug became its monument.

The story of the copper mug

The story goes that a Russian immigrant brought her copper mugs into the bar, and the Moscow mule found its vessel in them. A beautiful story, it does not count as proof, but the mug stayed, and it belongs to the drink as much as the ginger does.

What makes a mule

• Copper instead of glass: the mug keeps things ice cold, and the frost forming on the outside is part of the show
• Ginger beer instead of ginger ale: the sharper choice, the kick belongs to the character
• Built, not shaken: carbonation does not tolerate a shaker, built for bubbles and tempo, you know the rule from our build entry

Distinction: mule and buck

The buck is the family, the mule its most famous child: ginger beer, lime and the copper mug are its distinguishing marks, more on the family in our buck entry.

Remember: the buck brings ginger, the mule brings copper, the cobbler brings fruit and ice, the julep brings mint, the crusta brings the sugar rim.

At our lounge

Ask for our mule: ice cold, with a bite and in a mug nobody forgets. And if you want to know why it is built instead of shaken, we have an entry of our own on that.