Moscow Mule

The probability of spending an evening behind the bar without preparing a Moscow Mule is about as great as the probability of Xherdan Shaqiri not being fouled for 90 minutes in a football match. It is close to zero.

The sharp-witted all-rounder

Across Switzerland, the combination of vodka and Ginger Beer is a top seller and must not be missing in the bar. In upmarket bars with a drinks menu as thick as a telephone book, or in a pub with scuffed sofas where five cocktails are scrawled half legibly on a blackboard in chalk - the Russian mule cannot be missing.

The Moscow Mule is liked by women and men alike, is drunk as an aperitif to start the evening as well as a constant companion through the night and works not only as a cool-down in summer, but also in winter to warm up.

From beer to filler

Let's take a short trip into history. The original Ginger Beer, which originated in the mid-18th century, was very different from today's ginger beers, however, with an alcohol content of up to 11 percent.

For the production, fresh ginger was fermented with water and yeast at that time. Transport was difficult because the fermentation was often uncontrolled and the bottles could explode. Ginger Beer was therefore mainly produced for own or local consumption.

In the USA, production came to a standstill due to Prohibition, after which the ginger drink fell into oblivion. It was therefore a somewhat bizarre story how it rode back into the public eye on the back of a Moscow Mule.

From filler to killer

In the early 1940s, John G. Martin and John A. "Jack" Morgan sat together at a table in Los Angeles. John G. Martin was a manager at the liquor company G. F. Heublein Brothers Inc., which included the Smirnoff brand that founder Vladimir Smirnov had sold in 1934.

John A. Morgan was a restaurateur at the "Cock'n Bull Pub" in Hollywood. While one struggled with the fact that Americans were not really interested in vodka, the other complained that no one wanted to drink his homemade ginger lemonade.

All good things come in threes, because the third in the group, a Russian emigrant named Sophie Berezinski, was stuck with 2 000 copper mugs she couldn't get rid of. The desperation of these three people was unceremoniously combined together, seasoned with a squeeze of lime and the Moscow Mule was invented.

This may all sound suspiciously like a PR story, but the origin seems to be vouched for. The Moscow Mule, and with it vodka, began its triumphal march through America at this time.

The Moscow Mule, and with it vodka, began its triumphal march through America at this time.

John G. Martin is said to have actively supported the phenomenon by photographing bartenders with a Moscow Mule and presenting these pictures to the nearest Barkeeper to ask for the secret cocktail.

At some point, the Moscow Mule went quiet again. Possibly because its name had a bad connotation during the Cold War. Or perhaps because its taste was never a spawn of complexity.

The ice and the lime defuse the sharpness and sweetness of the ginger beer, the vodka gives the drink an oily texture. Somewhat ironically, one could say that the Moscow Mule tastes like a stretched lemonade and is something for people who like to drink alcohol without really wanting to taste the alcohol.

The Moscow Mule has come to stay

Nevertheless, the renaissance of the Moscow Mule does not seem to be a small short trend, but much more a fixed notch in the collective consciousness.

Today, there are different versions of the Moscow Mule, one of which is Jim Meehan's version, which replaced vodka with mezcal. But vodka is still at the top of the list, although in some bars it is now enhanced by a splash of bitters.

However, whether or not the bar serves the drink in the original copper cup version is more a question of personal style. It has no influence on the taste.