Copper Mug Moscow Mule with Fresh Ginger Syrup

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A cocktail-bar Moscow Mule: good vodka, fresh lime juice and a shot of homemade fresh ginger syrup layered under sharp ginger beer, so the drink actually bites instead of tasting like sweet soda. Built over hard ice in a frosted copper mug, with a slapped mint sprig and a wide lime peel for aroma.

Ingredients

• 4 oz fresh ginger, unpeeled, thinly sliced (about a 4-inch knob)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 pinch kosher salt

• 4 oz vodka (a clean wheat or potato vodka)
• 1 oz fresh lime juice, from about 1 large lime
• 1 oz fresh ginger syrup, from above
• 8 oz cold ginger beer, the spicy kind (not ginger ale)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters, optional
• large ice cubes or 1-inch cracked ice

• 2 sprigs fresh mint
• 2 wheels lime, cut 1/4-inch thick
• 2 strips wide lime peel, optional
• 2 thin slices candied or fresh ginger, optional

Instructions

1. Make the syrup: combine the sliced ginger, water, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer gently for 5 minutes — do not let it boil hard or the ginger turns bitter and the syrup thickens too much.
2. Remove from the heat, cover, and steep 20 minutes off the burner for maximum heat and aroma. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a jar, pressing the ginger firmly with the back of a spoon to squeeze out every drop of juice. Cool to room temperature. You'll have about 2/3 cup; it keeps 2 weeks refrigerated.
3. Chill your vessels: put two copper mugs (or 12-oz highball glasses) in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. A frosted mug is most of what makes this drink feel like a bar pour.
4. Juice the lime just before mixing — bottled lime juice will flatten the whole drink. Measure 1 oz.
5. In a cocktail shaker, combine the vodka, lime juice, ginger syrup and bitters if using. Fill halfway with ice and shake hard for 10 seconds, just to chill and marry — you want the mixture cold before the ginger beer goes in so it stays lively.
6. Fill the frosted mugs to the top with large ice cubes. Strain the shaken mixture evenly over the ice, dividing it between the two mugs.
7. Top each with 4 oz cold ginger beer, pouring slowly down the inside of the mug against a spoon or the ice to keep the carbonation. Give one gentle lift with a bar spoon from the bottom — do not stir vigorously.
8. Slap a mint sprig once between your palms to release its oils and tuck it against the ice so it sits right under the drinker's nose. If using lime peel, twist it skin-side down over the drink to spray the oils, then drop it in. Add a lime wheel and a slice of ginger, and serve immediately with the mug handle turned toward the guest.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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