You can make art, and I'll show you how to get your practice started.
I'm Alicia, your effervescent Peter Pan, helping you add a sense of color to your home or shop.
Join my FREE 30 day sketchbook challenge!
Ah, the Moscow Mule. It’s that famous vodka cocktail served in copper mugs – and those mugs more than likely are what have brought back the popularity of this drink in recent years.
So what’s up with the copper mugs, anyway?
According to The Curious Bartender, the short version of the story is that the man who owned the (then unpopular) vodka company, Smirnoff, commiserated with a pub-owner who had purchased a lot of ginger beer and immediately regretted that decision because patrons were just not feeling it. They concocted a way to combine both of their failed products and, so the story goes, collaborated with a business person who had a load of unwanted copper mugs to create the Moscow Mule. The two men used a Polaroid camera to photograph bartenders holding a bottle of Smirnoff and a copper mug, and then visited other vodka-less bars and showed the owners the Polaroids. The popularity of the drink (and thus, vodka) took off.
It’s very common to hear people say that the Moscow Mule is served in copper mugs because it keeps the drink much colder than glass. If that were the case, I’d like to think that most cocktails and beers would be served in copper vessels.
In fact, copper is an amazing conductor of heat. Thermal energy is transferred quickly through copper, which means when a cold drink is poured into a copper mug, the coldness of the drink immediately begins transferring to the copper, and then to your hand. The more ‘cold’ thermal energy that transfers to the mug means your drink is actually losing its cold. And in the meantime, your warm hand is transferring heat through the copper to the inside of the mug, warming your drink. This explains how my hand was beginning to feel ice cold while holding my copper mug, and yet the ice inside had long since melted away. Because the copper itself feels cold to the touch does not necessarily mean that the drink inside is just as cold, no matter what sellers of copper mugs tell you. It’s science.
Regardless, of the real reasoning, there’s something classic about holding on to a copper mug while sipping the refreshing Moscow Mule cocktail. Just like drinking an old-fashioned out of a rocks glass is the traditional way to enjoy the drink, ordering a Moscow Mule and having it served in a copper mug is part of the appeal of the drink. It’s part tradition, part style.
2 oz. Smirnoff Black Vodka
3.5 oz. Ginger Beer
1 oz. Lime Juice
Build drink directly in copper mug with cubed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint or a lime wedge. (Recipe from The Curious Bartender)
I've pulled together my favorite and most-used art supplies + tools to make the process easy for you!
I make whimsical art for color-lovers and California dreamers. I'm based in Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. where there are most decidedly no palm trees in sight.