Mules are the perfect drink for a cruise ship sailing in warm weather. There are all sorts of variants of the classic cocktail, but the blueprint comes from the Mosco Mule.
A cocktail featuring vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice, garnished with a slice or wedge of lime, and a sprig of mint, the drink is usually served over ice in a copper mug designed to keep it cold longer.
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It’s a simple drink that can be modified easily by using different spirits. Replace the vodka with bourbon or whiskey, for example, and you have a Kentucky Mule. The key is the ginger beer, a non-alcoholic beverage that is a variation of ginger ale, that’s heavier on the ginger.
That gives Mules their distinctive bite. Overall, Mules are light, refreshing, and easy to drink. They’re also relatively easy to make, which Maha from Indonesia demonstrated at the Casino Royale Bar on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship.
Vodka is a key ingredient in the Caribbean Mule.
Image source: Dennis Post/Postcard Travel Planning
Meet the Caribbean Mule
Royal Caribbean offers a number of different Mules which can be ordered at most bars on the ship. In the casino, however, the cruise line does not stock the traditional copper mugs the drink is often served in.
Caribbean Mule recipe:
2 oz Caribbean rum1 oz coconut syrup4 oz ginger beer 0.5 oz lime juice2 x Ginger garnish1 x lime wedge garnish
Maha combined the ingredients minus the ginger beer in a glass filled with ice and then gave it a healthy shake. He then poured the drink, ice and all, into a new tall glass and filled it with ginger beer.
Royal Caribbean only stocks ginger as a garnish in select bars, which does not include the casino bar. In this case, the drink was topped with a lime.
