The variants of the Moscow Mule are unquestionably numerous and there are quite innovative ones among them, no doubt about that. While the drink has been part of the established bar repertoire for decades in the USA, it is still a “brand-new” trend cocktail in Germany and other parts of Europe, which is due to the previously poor availability of ginger beer. Nowadays there are of course also other variants of this drink on the bar menus and sometimes even older drinks find their way back into common knowledge, such as the Mamie Taylor.

So today’s drink is an allusion to different other allusions to the Moscow Mule and I have mixed while I was inspired by different recipes. The starting point of my thinking was the French Mule, which is basically a Moscow Mule variant in which the vodka was replaced by Cognac. Another variant of this French Mules is the Norman Mule where the Cognac is replaced by Calvados. A particularly beautiful and fruity variant I personally like a lot since I love the interplay of apples, pears and ginger.

And then there was the Against the Grain cocktail that somehow stuck in my memory. It is a drink created by German bar blogger Matthias Friedlein and it was published on his blog Augustine-Bar where he invented the drink for the Vollkorn spirit. Here, too, we are dealing with a somewhat different version of the Moscow Mule. The Galgant Cremelikör of the Prussian Spirits Manufactory (Preußische Spirituosen Manufaktur) is a really nice liqueur and in combination with lemon juice, freshly pressed apple juice from the juicer and some ginger syrup it forms a very nice accompaniment for the Daron Calvados Fine. The cocktail is fresh, fruity, spicy and has warm autumnal flavors that also work at any time of the year. A Dash of coriander bitters bestows a very nice and vegetal depth upon the cocktail. Et voila: Le Normand Épicé.

Recipe:

5.0 cl Daron Calvados Fine
1 cl PSM Galgant Cremelikör (Galangal liqueur)
1.5 cl of lemon juice
0.5 cl cloudy apple juice (best from the juicer)
1.5 cl of ginger syrup
1 Dash Coriander Bitters (Bob’s Bitters)
Soda water

Preparation: Shake all ingredients except for the soda water on ice and then pour into your glass filled with fresh ice cubes. Finally pour in soda water.

Glass: Highball

Garnish: a fresh, green slice of apple

Buying sources: At specialized retailers or online