The Moscow Mule was invented because a vodka distributor and a Los Angeles bartender were each having trouble pushing a different product. The year was 1941, and John Martin—who worked for a distributor that sold Smirnoff—realized that Americans loved their whiskey and wanted nothing to do with vodka. He paid a visit to the Cock ‘n Bull bar on Sunset Boulevard where the owner Jack Morgan lamented that he couldn’t sell his proprietary ginger beer. The two put their heads together, and the Moscow Mule was born. As with any classic, different variations began to pop up through the years as folks realized they could swap vodka for other spirits. Hence, the Tequila Mule came to be.
Tequila’s earthy, grassy flavor brightens up the Mule and complements the spicy bite of the ginger beer and acidic tang of the lime juice. If you’re still getting used to ginger beer’s sweet piquancy, tequila is actually the way to go because it tempers the flavor better than vodka does. When choosing a tequila, you don’t need to splurge on anything too fancy, but you should definitely look for a quality blanco bottling. For this drink, we’re fans of Cimarrón, Calle 23 Blanco and Olmeca Altos Tequila Plata. If you’re a whiskey fan and want to give the drink a deeper, richer flavor, experiment with a reposado tequila when mixing this drink (we like Pueblo Viejo Reposado and Espolon Reposado).
To make the Tequila Mule as tasty as possible, always use fresh lime juice and a high quality ginger beer. If you’re looking for recommendations, we always reach for Reed’s, Fever-Tree, Gosling’s and Ginger People.
The Essentials
tequila
lime juice
ginger beer
Bar Spoon
Ingredients
2
oz
Tequila
.5
oz
Lime juice, freshly squeezed
Ginger Beer, to top
Lime Wheel, for garnish
Mint sprig, for garnish
Method
- Add all ingredients, save for the garnishes, to a copper mug with ice.
- Stir it a few times with a bar spoon.
- Garnish with a lime wheel and mint sprig.
Rum
•
Sweet
•
Easy
Perfect Storm
A spin on the classic Dark and Stormy—a blend of dark rum, lime and ginger beer—the Perfect Storm adds one small but important ingredient: Angostura bitters. Not only do they keep with the Caribbean theme of the drink, they also add an impressive amount of aromatics, which only enhance the rich taste of dark rum and ginger spice.