Kentucky Mule with Bourbon, Lime and Ginger Beer
Bourbon, fresh lime and cold ginger beer built over big ice. The lime is pushed to three quarters of an ounce, which is what keeps bourbon's sweetness from flattening the drink.
Ingredients
The Kentucky Mule
- 1 cup large ice cubes or as many as the glass will hold
- 2 ounces bourbon 90 proof or above
- 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice about half a lime, squeezed to order
- 4 ounces ginger beer well chilled, brewed rather than ginger ale
To Garnish
- 1 lime wheel cut thin
- 1 sprig mint optional, slapped once between your palms
Equipment
- Collins glass or Moscow mule mug
Instructions
Build the Drink
- Pack a copper mug or a short rocks glass right to the top with the largest ice cubes you have. A full glass melts far more slowly than a half empty one, and dilution is the only thing that can spoil this.
- Squeeze the lime directly over the ice, about 3/4 ounce, and drop the spent half into the glass if you want the extra citrus oil.
- Pour the bourbon over the top so that it runs down through the ice and chills on the way.
Top and Serve
- Add the cold ginger beer slowly, pouring it down the inside of the glass rather than into the middle, which keeps far more of the carbonation.
- Give it a single gentle stir from the bottom to lift the bourbon and lime up through the ginger beer, lay the lime wheel on top, add the mint if you are using it, and serve straight away.
Notes
Ginger beer, never ginger ale. Ale is a soft drink flavored with ginger; beer is brewed or heavily infused and has real heat, which is the entire point of a mule. If ale is all you have, drop a thin coin of fresh ginger into the glass.
Buy bourbon at 90 proof or above. An 80 proof bottle is not bad whiskey, it simply disappears under 4 ounces of ginger beer.
For 8 drinks, batch 16 ounces of bourbon with 6 ounces of fresh lime juice and refrigerate up to 8 hours. Pour about 2 3/4 ounces over ice per glass and top with ginger beer at the last moment. Never batch the ginger beer; it is flat inside twenty minutes.
One gentle stir from the bottom only. The bourbon and lime sink and the ginger beer floats, so an unstirred glass tastes of soda and then of neat whiskey.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1drink | Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Sodium: 12mg | Potassium: 30mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 6mg