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The Moscow Mule is a liquid expression that shines in bars and restaurants around the world. Its copper mug is perhaps one of its most binding components that keeps the drink colder for longer. Inside, a mixture of vodka, ginger beer and lime is served that places the cocktail at the pinnacle of mixology. However, after a long time, the origins of this cocktail are still the subject of debate. While some link it to Prohibition in Los Angeles, others insist that the drink was created in New York.
There are shared traits in the history of each city. Both place the creation of the drink in 1941 and even feature some of the same protagonists and the same brand of vodka.
According to the New York theory, the Moscow Mule was born in the Chatham Hotel in midtown Manhattan. There, beverage executive John Morgan was in town to promote his own Cock ‘n’ Bull ginger beer. While sharing moments with such industry luminaries as John Martin, president of the former G.F. Heublein & Brothers distillery, and Rudolph Kunett, president of Hublein’s vodka division, Smirnoff. After a couple of drinks, the trio wondered what would happen if they combined vodka, ginger beer and a splash of lime juice. The result was delicious. They christened their creation the Moscow Mule. Soon after, they bought 500 copper mugs with the words ‘Little Moscow’ on them.
The dichotomy arises with the other theory coming from Cock ‘n’ Bull’s head bartender, Wes Price. This would emerge in a 2007 Wall Street Journal article in which Price claimed to have invented the drink to free up space in the Cock ‘n’ Bull’s basement full of ginger beer bottles, in an attempt to stock up.
