
Not only is the Moscow Mule one of the most popular cocktails, 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of the drink, a summer-appropriate tipple made with vodka, ginger beer and lime, usually served in a copper mug.
So, where did the drink come from?
A few versions of the story exist, but the most appealing is that the drink was invented in Los Angeles—a far cry from Moscow—at the Cock ‘n’ Bull Pub in 1941. There, head bartender Wes Price had a surplus of Cock ‘n’ Bull brand ginger beer he needed to unload. Meanwhile, booze executive John G. Martin of food and spirits distributor Heublein, who had recently acquired the Smirnoff Vodka brand (an American-made vodka), was a regular at the bar, where he puzzled aloud over how to sell more vodka.
The last piece of the puzzle, according to Moscow Copper Co. Russian immigrant Sophie Berezinski, whose father owned and operated a copper factory back in Russia, was when she fortuitously wandered into the Cock ‘n’ Bull pub “at just the right time, on just the right day,” in 1941, with a supply of 2,000 copper vessels to sell. There, she met Price and Martin, and the three of them devised the drink.
Spirited debates about the origin story aside, the drink quickly became a favorite with Hollywood stars in the 1940s, but then nearly became a casualty of the Cold War in the 1950s, as anti-Soviet sentiment threatened to reverse vodka’s gains with the public. Bartenders even paraded down New York’s 5th Avenue with a banner that protested, “Down With the Moscow Mule!” Yet, all that negative publicity only served to boost demand for the drink, which continues to be popular today.
In honor of the cocktail’s 75th anniversary, here are 5 creative modern-day takes on the beloved Moscow Mule.
1Ox Mule
2Misunderstood
3Paloma Mule
4Ramos Mule
5Nauti-Mule