The Mezcal Mule: Smoke in a Copper Mug

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The Mezcal Mule takes one of the most durable modern highball structures and changes its personality with a single substitution. Replace vodka with mezcal and the familiar mule frame suddenly gains smoke, earth, and more length on the palate.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces mezcal
• 4 Cucumber Slices
• 1/2 ounce agave nectar
• 3/4 ounce passion fruit purée
• 3/4 ounce lime juice
• Top off with ginger beer
• Garnish with a charred lime wheel

Directions

• Add the cucumber slices and agave nectar to the bottom of shaker and muddle gently.
• Add the mezcal, passion fruit puree, lime juice, and ice to the shaker and shake until well-chilled.
• Strain into a rocks glass or copper mug filled with ice and top with ginger beer.
• Garnish with a charred lime wheel.

A Template Built for Variation

The original Moscow Mule is one of the easiest classics to adapt because its logic is so clear: spirit, lime, ginger beer, cold metal mug, immediate refreshment. Once that structure is in place, different base spirits can take the drink in very different directions without breaking it.

Mezcal is one of the most successful substitutions because it does not simply add another flavor. It changes the drink's whole emotional register.

Smoke Against Ginger

Ginger beer already brings heat, spice, and lift. Mezcal answers those qualities with something darker and more grounded. Lime keeps the combination from getting muddy, so the final drink stays sharp even as the smoke lingers.

That balance is why the Mezcal Mule feels more purposeful than a novelty variation. The ingredients argue with each other in a useful way.

A Product of the Agave Era

Unlike older canonized cocktails, the Mezcal Mule does not point cleanly to one inventor or one famous bar. It belongs more broadly to the 21st-century rise of mezcal in cocktail culture, when bartenders began testing smoky agave spirit against formats originally designed for clearer, lighter bases.

In that sense, the drink is less about a single act of invention than about a broader shift in taste.

Enduring Appeal

The Mezcal Mule lasts because it keeps the convenience and immediacy of a mule while offering a more distinctive finish than the vodka original.

Best for warm-weather service, happy hour, or any moment when you want a highball with more edge than softness.