It’s the Mule-tide Season

In traditional Chinese medicine, it’s said that ginger is a “warming” herb, with the power to drive away cold and dampness as it stokes your digestive fires a little bit brighter.

During the holiday season in North America, you usually find the root – after it’s been pulled out of the ground, scrubbed, peeled, dried and powdered – adding a cozy warmth to cookies and baked goods. It might also lend a gentle heat to a pumpkin-spice latte, or soothe an overindulged tummy in mild ginger ale.

Ginger ale is … nice. But when Miami’s breeze feels the slightest bit nippy, the cold-intolerant Biscayne Tippler insists on stronger stuff. We’re not talking about spirits – or not just spirits alone. We mean ginger ale’s cloudier cousin: ginger beer. Ginger ale, like ginger snaps and ginger bread, tastes like the powdered stuff. Ginger beer, on the other hand, has a fresh, feisty kick. It came to the islands from Britain, along with hardtack, saltfish and statues of Admiral Horatio Nelson.

It was first created, in the years before carbonization came from compressed canisters, by fermenting fresh ginger root with sugar, citrus and yeast, rendering a bubbly beverage that wasn’t so much alcoholic as it was spicy. It kept well for long periods and, as it turned out, it mixed well, too. Why it still hasn’t caught on with America’s kids is a bit of a puzzler.

The most popular cocktail using ginger beer came about due to frustration over that marketing mystery. The Moscow mule, the story goes, was born in mid-century L.A., when a marketer, John Martin, with a warehouse full of Smirnoff met a pub owner, Jack Morgan, with a warehouse full of ginger beer, and both complained they were having trouble selling their stuff. Morgan’s paramour had a copper company that made distinctive metallic mugs, so the men decided to try mixing their inventory in one of her mugs, added a squirt of lime and soon enough had a hit on their hands.

CLASSIC MOSCOW MULE

INGREDIENTS

·     2 ounces vodka

·     4 ounces ginger beer

·     1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

METHOD

·     Pour ingredients over ice into a copper mug and stir; garnish with a lime wedge.

That might be the best-known ginger beer cocktail in North America, but the oldest is probably the Bermudan drink known as a dark ’n’ stormy. One reason it’s not more widely known is because the Gosling Brothers Ltd. company took out a trademark on the name in the 1990s and has been known to sic lawyers on those mixologists unfortunate enough to dare pour a darkish-stormyish drink made with something other than Goslings Black Seal rum.

Luckily for us, there are plenty of Miami establishments that comply with the letter of the spirit’s law. Alex Velasquez, the area general manager of Lost Boy Dry Goods and Fox's Lounge, explained.

“A true dark ’n’ stormy must be made with ginger beer and Goslings Black Seal rum – and only Goslings Black Seal rum – served in a tall glass over ice and garnished with a lime,” he said. “The layering of the rum on the top is key to building a beautiful drink. It’s a classic; good for any weather or time of day.”

Velasquez also recommends ginger beer fans who’ve enjoyed Moscow mules and dark ’n’ stormies check out a third classic cocktail: the very British Pimm’s cup. It’s a drink with a recursive name, since its primary ingredient is a gin-based liqueur called Pimm’s Cup No. 1. That’s right, to make a Pimm’s cup you need Pimm’s Cup. And it’s a drink that you’re supposed to feel good about drinking: it boosts your vitality with more garnishes by weight than booze.

CLASSIC PIMM’S CUP

INGREDIENTS

·     2 thin slices cucumber

·     1 thin slice orange

·     1 thin slice lemon

·     2 ounces Pimm’s Cup No. 1 liqueur

·     4 ounces ginger beer

·     1 thin slice apple

·     I strawberry

·     1 sprig mint, about 6-7 leaves

METHOD

·     Line a tall glass with thin slices of cucumber, orange and lemon; gently fill with ice.

·     Pour in Pimm’s and ginger beer then stir; garnish with remaining ingredients and serve.

If you’re keeping a tally, you might already have noticed that for all ginger beer’s powerful pungency, it mixes well with nearly any spirit – clear, dark, neutral, full-flavored – and it amplifies the sweet and fruity just as well as the dry and botanical.

Take, as another Miami-born example, the La Bruja Mule served at Café La Trova. Like the Moscow mule, it consists of three ingredients, but it swaps out the vodka for something very different.

“Liquore Strega, the base of this refreshing cocktail, is an Italian liqueur made from about 70 different herbs and spices, such as anise, cinnamon, juniper and the saffron that gives Strega its beautiful color,” explained La Trova’s master cantinero, Julio Cabrera. “Using this liqueur instead of the usual vodka gives this cocktail profound floral notes and a refreshing level of sweetness.”

On the other hand, the Design District’s Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill serves sushi and burgers, and pours a drink that’s somewhere between a Moscow mule and a dark ’n’ stormy … with a little Cuban flair all of its own.

The Havana mule, created by Gio Gutierrez of @chatchowtv, consists of Havana Club Original rum, guava nectar, guava syrup, fresh lime juice, topped off with ginger beer.

He says that the drink combines two flavors that he loves, a Havana Club mule and local guava. He wanted to name the drink to evoke the feeling of Havana’s famous seawall, the Malecón.

“It happens to be the world’s largest public bench that runs about 5 miles, providing a gathering place for families, friends and lovers who want to hang out,” he shared.

If you want to get even more “Miami” with your mules, ride over to the Pool Hall at Red Rooster Overtown and order a Sizzle. It’s made from locally distilled E11even vodka, fresh lime, ginger beer … and a strawberry and pink peppercorn cordial. (For Florida native-plant fans, those pink peppercorns could be sourced from either invasive Brazilian pepper trees or a Peruvian cousin. If you can’t beat ’em, drink ’em.)

At The Lasseter, the history-minded bar atop Julia & Henry’s downtown food court, one can sip a sophisticated East Flagler Mule, mixed from Beluga vodka, rosé aperitif, orange zest syrup, Sour AF Lemon – a Miami-made citrus essence – and London Essence ginger beer.

“We wanted every drink to incorporate elements of South Florida and its history in every cocktail,” explained Gui Jaroschy, a partner at Unfiltered Hospitality, who helped plan out The Lasseter’s offerings. “In the East Flagler Mule, we incorporated orange zest and orange flower water as a nod to the Kendall orange groves planted by Flagler during the development of the neighborhood. The rosé aperitif contains hibiscus and flowers which can be found all around South Florida. The cocktail is a refreshing floral and citrusy take on the mule that can be enjoyed at any time of the day or night.”

And in Aventura, Coconut Grove and South Beach, Bodega Taqueria y Tequila puts its own twist on the mule. No, surprisingly, the Mula de Bodega isn’t made with tequila (though really, why not?). It’s a Moscow mule made with Grey Goose that also uses fresh mint, like a mojito, and cucumber, like a Pimm’s cup.

Here is where your cocktail writer will suggest trying a few experiments at home. But rather than throw recipes involving different spirits at you – Cachaça? Sure! Mamajuana? Why not! Slivovitz? Certainly! Jeppson's Malört? Uh, maybe? – the wiser avenue of experimentation might be to start sampling different varieties of ginger beer. Because this mixer is made with fresh ginger, the flavor profiles vary widely depending not only on how much is used but also where it’s grown. Yes, it’s a soft drink with terroir.

Jamaican ginger – you’ll find it in D&G Jamaican Ginger Beer – is pretty spicy stuff. South Africa’s Stoney Ginger Beer has marginally more fire but less acidity. From Bermuda, mildly peppery Barritt’s used to be the Goslings-approved dark ’n’ stormy mixer until the bottlers parted ways and Goslings started making its own similarly soft-spoken brew. Australian Bundaberg Ginger Beer has a longer steeping time than some, and more depth of flavor to show for it. Reed’s Extra Ginger Beer is fairly mild stuff that bears a floral aroma from organic Peruvian ginger. Fever Tree, blended with gingers from Ivory Coast, Nigeria and southern India, is on the dry-and-earthy side.

There are dozens more, made by small Caribbean producers or craft brewers in places like Asheville, N.C., and Brooklyn, N.Y. Find one you like, and then start adding. Soon, you’ll have chased the dark storm clouds away with a sparkling mule of your own.