The oldest cocktail in the book is making a popular comeback and the vodka brand that started it all – SMIRNOFF Vodka – is calling all bartenders and drink enthusiasts to have fun with the iconic cocktail.
To celebrate the Moscow Mule, SMIRNOFF has teamed up with Shiftgig, the online community for the service and hospitality industries, to launch a nationwide Moscow Mule recipe challenge for the cocktail that revolutionized American cocktail culture. SMIRNOFF and Shiftgig are looking for the best Moscow Mule recipe in the country. Participants will be asked to enter their best original Moscow Mule recipe (with photo) using SMIRNOFF No. 21, ginger (in any form) and local ingredients give it a creative, regional spin.
Five winners (one per region) will be selected based upon their cocktail’s originality, regional flair and taste. Each winner (and a guest) will receive round-trip airfare plus a two-night hotel accommodation in Chicago to attend a celebration starring them and their Moscow Mule creation. Winners will also receive $1,000 to spend in the Windy City! The challenge is currently running from now until October 15, 2014. Participants can visit the website here to enter the Moscow Mule Challenge.
Birthed in the late 1930s as a strategy to introduce vodka to the American audience, it quickly became a post-prohibition classic. In 1941, when brown spirits were popular and vodka barely known, John Martin of Heublein (now Smirnoff) and Jack Morgan of the Cock ‘n Bull restaurant created America’s first vodka cocktail. In a recognizable copper mug, they paired Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka – a mysterious clear spirit hailing from Russia – with the zesty new Cock ‘n Bull ginger beer, added a squeeze of lime and christened it the Moscow Mule. The rest is history!
