The Moscow Mule – The cocktail that jump-started the American vodka vogue

 by Anna J. Kutor

A blend of lime, ginger beer and Russia’s favorite booze – the one that punches you as hard as a full-grown mule -, the Moscow Mule stirred up a breeze in the cocktail industry of the 1950s and put vodka on America’s almighty alcohol map.

Behind the simple concoction that marries 2 ounces of (preferably Smirnoff) vodka, 4 ounces of ginger beer and one ounce of lime juice, lies a tale of a brilliant marketing maneuver, one created by John G. Martin and Jack Morgan.

John G. Martin, a man with great entrepreneurial flair working as an executive at Heublein Corporation a food and spirit distributor on the East Coast, sought to introduce refined vodka – a drink largely unheard of in the 1930s of America.

Spearheading the acquisition of America’s first vodka distillery in 1939, the Russian Smirnoff, Martin positioned the elixir as the “the white whiskey”.

The Smirnoff story begins in the Russian capital around the end of the 19th century when Count Piotr Aresenyevich Smirnov established his first vodka factory named Smirnov.

The colorless elixir - distilled from potatoes or fermented grain – was produced from filtering raw liquor through birch tree charcoal.

Strong and smooth, the Smirnov vodka soon became a beloved spirit of the Russian elite. The successful venture was abruptly confiscated during Russia’s October Revolution. Smirnov’s son, Vladimir, fled to Istanbul in 1920, then to France a few years later, where he reestablished the distillery under the French-spelled Smirnoff.

The Great Depression of 1929 had damaging effects on Smirnoff sales, forcing Smirnov to sell the company to Rudolph Kunnett, who later sold the brand to Heublein in 1939.

In the beginning, the white whiskey was a bust. While fairly popular amongst immigrants from Eastern European, most American consumers found it too strong and overpowering in taste.

Following a few abortive years, the elixir’s big brake came with John G. Martin and Jack Morgan’s idea of using it as a cocktail base. Owner of the Cock’n’Bull diner on Los Angeles’s Sunset Strip, Morgan had been trying to market his homemade ginger beer.

Together, using Martin’s vodka and Morgan’s ginger beer, they concocted a mixture complete with chipped ice, a lime sliver and a twist of cucumber peel – christening it the Moscow Mule.

The cocktail was served and sold in a distinctive copper mug that wore the Moscow Mule brand and a kicking mule inscribed on the side.

Jump-starting the American vodka craze of the 1950s, Martin’s marketing ploy of the Moscow Mule was ingenious. Using a Polaroid camera, Martin asked barmen to pose with a bottle of Smirnoff and a copper mug-filled mixture.

Leaving one copy in the bar, Martin visited the next bar showing the competitors sensational ‘secret cocktail’. The secret spread fast, the Moscow Mule soon became the drink to call from New York to Los Angeles, kicking its way into cocktail history.

Beyond the hint of marketing magic, the Mule’s mojo stems from its simplicity. As easily made for one as for a dozen, even the most inexperienced mixer can whip up this cocktail in a matter of minutes.

Taking a cup full of ice and adding two ounces of vodka, four ounces of ginger beer and once ounce of lime juice is not rocket science. For a more mild taste, ginger ale can substitute the ginger beer.

Besides the Mule, leading cocktails like Bloody Mary, Long Island Ice Tea, Kamikaze, Cosmopolitan, White Russian, Screwdriver and Martini all include the white whiskey. Vodka is still keeping spirits high around the globe.

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