Kentucky Mule

The KENTUCKY MULE is first cousin to the Moscow Mule. It’s the same icy ginger-beer drink except it uses bourbon instead of vodka and adds mint along with the lime.

REQUIREMENTS: Bourbon, ginger beer, fresh lime juice, mint sprigs

• 2 oz. bourbon
• .5 oz. fresh lime juice (or one large lime wedge)
• mint sprigs
• Moscow Mule copper mug, cocktail glass, or highball glass

Fill frozen copper mug or glass with ice. Squeeze medium-to-large wedge of lime over ice. Pour bourbon into glass and top it with chilled ginger beer. Stir and garnish with one or two fresh mint sprigs and a lime wedge.

ORIGIN: When an L.A. bartender created the Moscow Mule in the 1940’s, vodka extended its reach from Russia and Eastern Europe to the United States. But many in the U.S. shared no affinity for vodka, thinking it bland and tasteless. So the cocktail folks started experimenting shortly thereafter with regional spirits such as rum, tequila … and of course American whiskey.

COMMENTS: The only way to abuse this drink is to pour room-temperature ginger beer over the ice, thereby making the Kentucky Mule watery. So have a good ginger beer in the refrigerator, like Fever-Tree, Barritts, Reeds, Powell & Mahoney, Gosling’s, or sugar-free Zevia. You’ll get your own feel for the amount of ginger beer you prefer in your Kentucky Mule. The extra lime wedge garnish is important because an additional lime squeeze might be needed. Having a frozen copper mug or frozen glass handy is a big plus. Also, I prefer cubed ice, but some like crushed ice.