The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess

Great timing, just yesterday I made one and then I added it to drink databse at my cocktail webpage. Great job, as usual!

If you’d like your own copper “moscow mule” mug, they can usually be easily found relatively inexpensively on eBay. The mug you see me using in this video is one of the original ones. On the front is simply engraved a kicking mule with “Moscow Mule” engraved around it.

They should cost around $10 to $20 apiece. Avoid going crazy on any bid, just let it go and wait for the next one to come around.

Way, way back in 1981, I had lunch at the Cock ‘N’ Bull.  Great looking bar, but to my everlasting regret I didn’t order a Moscow Mule in situ!  Thanks to you, now I can make up for lost time....

Question:
I’ve heard tales that using the copper mug gives it a different taste than a glass (some sort of chemical reaction withe the copper).
Is this true or just a sales pitch to get the bars to buy the mugs with Shmirnoff and Cock & Bull or just a seperate old wives tale?

TheQ out

I’ve never really done a taste comparison in and out of the copper mug. I could expect that there might be ‘some’ flavor difference, but I can’t expect it to be much, and frankly I’m not sure if “your drink won’t have that copper flavor without the authentic mug!” would be such a great sales tool.

-Robert

Isn’t acid + copper a dubious combination?

Not being a health expert of any sort, I can’t make any sort of intelligent comments regarding copper and it’s health effects/value. I did find the following article however which does discuss this:
http://www.copper.org/health/papers/cu_health_uk/cu_health_uk.html

It doesn’t however have any details if the combination of copper+acid changes the landscape at all.

-Robert

With a bit of quick research it seems that the only main reaction would be a bit of cleaning of the copper from the reaction with the lemon juice. That being said you would not want to leave it over night and take a drink in the morning. Another reaction occurs that would not be as tasty.

Hey Robert,
Where did you find the great citrus juicer used in the Moscow Mule segment?

That is an “Ebaloy” juicer that I picked up on eBay, I see them up there somewhat regularly.

Here is a link to check:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?satitle=ebaloy

Although there aren’t any at the current time.

-Robert

"Ebaloy” sounds like a made-for-eBay product. 

I was actually thinking about the interaction between the citric acid from your lime and the aluminum of the juicer.  I assume that you’ve had no problems, but I wonder about it.

I’ve never noticed any problems with an acid/aluminum interaction, but then I also don’t keep the juice in the juicer for long.

I am glad to see this drink coming back my dad before he passed away should me this drink and I look for ginger beer
ever where and it is hard to fined here in AZ I always buy 6 bottles when ever i fined ginger beer

Ginger Beer VS. Ginger Ale:

If I substituted ginger beer with ginger ale, would I be making a drink that could be considered a “poor man’s” Moscow Mule? I only ask this question since most mainstream bars seldom, if ever, carry true ginger beer as opposed to it’s non-alcoholic cousin, ginger ale.
Sometimes you have to play improv behind the bar.  }:^(

Adam,

Ginger beer and ginger ale are similar, but ginger beer is spicier, and so a Moscow Mule made with ginger ale won’t quite have the same character. Perhaps you could call it a Moscow Pony? :->

Note that Ginger Beer is also non-alcoholic…

Robert,
Have you used the Wear Ever juicer, is it a comparable alternative to the Ebaloy? The Wear Ever juicer seems to be more commonly available on ebay and has been resurrected as a modern enameled version which would eliminate any acid/aluminum interaction. Google “Vintage Manual Juicer” to see the modern version (I have no affiliation with this product).

Jim,

Yes, I have an antique Wear Ever Juicer, with juice spout underneath, as well as a “modern” Wear Ever juicer with side pour. I prefer the design of the side-pour since it doesn’t require having a properly sized glass or something to catch the juice below, but for some reason the “modern” version doesn’t work as good as the antique. The removeable (and teflon coated) fruit-grill (or whatever you want to call it) seems to often slip off its track a bit and then jam up in the mechanism. Could just be that my juicer has a slight misalignment in it somewhere.

One thing I really like about both of them, is that this style of juicer does a decent job of also getting some of the oils out of the peel, more than the Ebaloy does.

I’m still keeping my eyes out for the “perfect” juicer :-> Something that does as good of job as getting the oils out of the skin as the “mexican” juice does, but not as messy.

-Robert

Ginger beer is so hard to find, can you suggest where I can order it and what’s an adverage price I can expect to pay?

If you live in the US, then you “should” be able to find ginger beer available in your area “somewhere”, although maybe not super common. I sometimes have to go to two or three different grocery stores beore I can find it.

Search on Amazon.com for “ginger beer” and you’ll find “Cock N’ Bull” (the ginger beer that the Moscow Mule was developed with) available in a case of 24 for about $30.

The “Reeds” brand is fairly popular, and they have a “store locator” on their site (http://www.reedsgingerbrew.com/locator.html). Plus they also offer online ordering.