Mexico Mule

This is an unusual time – being safe at home for much longer than a few snow days (clearly this scenario only applies to my readers who see snow!). My oldest friend, Holly R, reminded me via an Instagram post that we are not ‘stuck’ at home, but we are ‘safe’ at home.

Whether you like to or not, people are cooking more at home. And, dare I say, getting more creative with what they drink at home. 

For the first time, I crowd sourced my monthly cocktail recipe. I put out a request on social media and through the ‘Making the Most of WFH’ Microsoft Teams site at work to see what people were enjoying during their time at home. I was surprised to see that Tequila was solidly at the top of the list. Don’t worry – not shots of bad Tequila. Good Tequila mixed with different fruit juices.

I had shared the post to my high school’s unofficial Facebook page (Immaculate Heart High School in Hollywood, CA). And, was reminded of one of the few reasons I miss living in Southern California – access to fruit trees in your yard. The responses I received from there all mention making drinks with the fresh citrus fruit they have easy access to. I’m happy to be able to get to freshly squeezed juices at my local Wegmans (and it’s not lost on me that things could be a lot worse!).

I selected a recipe submitted by a local friend, Chantel C, for a Mexico Mule (or Margarita Mule as Chantel called it). Ed had recently dusted off our Mule cups and so they were on my mind plus this one is pretty easy to make if you have a few ingredients at home. It also never hurts to do a few trial runs prior to Cinco de Mayo.

What makes a cocktail a ‘mule’ (or a ‘buck’)? It’s made with either ginger beer or ginger ale and citrus juice. In this recipe you’ll find silver or blanco Tequila, ginger beer plus both lime and blood orange juices.  Think margarita with some ginger beer. If you don’t have a blood orange, a regular orange will do. The orange gives it just the right amount of sweetness and a great color.

Neither ginger beer nor ginger ale contain alcohol. Our go-to ginger beer is Fentimans Ginger Beer as it has a strong ginger taste, but there are many options out there including diet ginger beer if you’re watching your calories.

Thank you Chantel C for sharing this libation and to everyone else who submitted a suggestion – you may just see your recipe in a future post. This also provided a good excuse to use a traditional Mexican napkin from my mom who lived in Mexico for 10+ years. About half of that time she lived in the state of Jalisco where Tequila comes from.

Not a Tequila fan but curious about a mule? Try Riegl Palate’s recipes for a Moscow Mule (vodka) or Dublin Mule (Irish whiskey).