Moscow Mule

Classic Moscow Mule Recipe

When I am making cocktails at home, I want simple, quick and delicious! My classic Moscow Mule recipe is all of those things! Like many of my favorites (like a Pimm’s Cup, or Mint Juleps!) I barely need a recipe for this easy cocktail. But I’m sharing my recipe for good measure, along with tons of tips and tricks for making the best Moscow Mule ever. 

Moscow Mule Ingredients

• Vodka: Use something good! Smirnoff is a classic choice (supposedly the cocktail was created to market Smirnoff vodka in the ‘40s) but any vodka you like will work. Tito’s is my middle-shelf go-to. See more vodka recs below. 
• Lime: Fresh limes only please! No bottled lime juice. Count on about one lime per person. 
• Ginger beer: Ginger beer is NOT the same as ginger ale. Historically, ginger beers were fermented alcoholic beverages, but nowadays if a label says “ginger beer” the company is telling you that the drink inside is more spicy and assertive than a drink labeled “ginger ale.” Ginger beers’ assertiveness is what you want for making a Moscow Mule. 
• Fresh ginger: A great Moscow Mule is all about that lime-ginger zing! Fresh ginger kicks it up for maximum refreshment. 
• Lots of ice 

How to Make a Moscow Mule

1. Muddle fresh ginger. That means smash the ginger and fresh lime juice together into the bottom of the highball glass or Moscow Mule mugs with a muddler. 
2. Measure the vodka with a cocktail jigger and pour it over the muddled lime and ginger.
3. Fill the mug with crushed ice. We’re getting frosty! 
4. Pour in the ginger beer. You can garnish the Moscow Mule cocktail with fresh mint or candied ginger if you’d like to. 

Tips For Making The Best Moscow Mule

• The best ginger beers for Moscow Mules: Cock ‘n Bull is a classic ginger beer for Moscow Mules, but feel free to use any brand you love.  I love the Reed’s Extra Ginger brand, but there are lots to choose from. Fentiman’s and Fever Tree are good, too, though I find both brands to be a bit less spicy than the Reed’s. 
• The best vodkas for Moscow Mules: You don’t have to go top shelf here (you’re going to drown it in ginger beer and lime juice) but don’t go bottom shelf. Something middle-shelf, like Schmirnoff or Tito’s, would be a fine choice here. If you’re stumped, here's my cocktail trick: I tell the folks at the liquor store what cocktail I am making, and I ask for their help making a choice. 
• Invest in a Moscow Mule mug: You don’t have to serve your Moscow Mules in the classic copper Mule mugs, but somehow it really does seem to taste best in one of these glimmering mugs. 
• Need more ginger in your life? Try our miso-ginger chicken slaw or our citrus chicken rice bowl with ginger jalapeño sauce.

The History Of The Moscow Mule

The Moscow Mule was supposedly invented in the early 1940s by John G. Martin, a marketing executive at a drinks company that had recently acquired Smirnoff vodka. At the time, most Americans weren’t in the habit of drinking vodka (we were more of a whiskey and beer country then). Well, Martin needed a way to sell us on the clear liquor so he teamed up with his friend Jack Morgan, who owned the Cock’n Bull pub in Los Angeles and who had created a spicy ginger beer recipe that he was eager to sell, too. They put their heads (and drinks) together and voila: The Moscow Mule was born. Don’t know about you, but I’m sold. 

Bottoms Up, Pinkies Down

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