Where have I been??? Oh yeah, at home with my dogs, my husband, and my cheap wine. I guess I don't do the bar hopping that I used to. And I guess even if I did the last thing I probably would have ordered at the bar would be the drink that comes in a copper tin mug.
I can actually thank the fact that the Mule comes in a tin mug, for me finding & trying this delicious beverage. Dan and I were at a bar, eating some tapas. Dan was enjoying his Guinness, and me my red wine. I saw the copper tin mugs and was intrigued, so I asked the bartender what kind of drink comes in the mug.
Two choices.. the Mule or the Donkey. The mule = vodka, ginger beer, bitters, lime juice & simple syrup. The Donkey = bourbon instead of vodka, plus all the other ingredients. Yuck-o.
We ordered up the Mule and Oh Em Gee. Seriously, where has this drink been all my life?
And now a little history on where this drink came from... Invented by John G. Martin, Jack Morgan & Rudolph Kunett. As Jack Morgan tells it, "We three were quaffing a slug, nibbling an hors d'oeuvre and shoving toward inventive genius". Martin and Kunett had their minds on their vodka and wondered what would happen if a two-ounce shot joined with Morgan's ginger beer and the squeeze of a lime. Ice was ordered, limes procured, mugs ushered in and the concoction put together. Cups were raised, the men counted five and down went the first taste. It was good. It lifted the spirit to adventure. Four or five later the mixture was christened the Moscow Mule...
Now someone please tell me.. what the hell is "quaffing a slug"?
I had always read that the drink was born from stuff that couldn't sell... vodka not yet popular in the 1940's and 1950's, ginger beer that was an acquired taste to many, and copper mugs that no one wanted. Somehow, the combo tied together with a healthy squeeze of lime was a winner. (I say "somehow", but I personally love ginger. And limes. Vodka is OK on occasion, but it's no gin. And I'm a huge fan of copper crafts. So, I'm an easy sell.) Now, about quaffing that slug... http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/slug_3
ReplyDelete