National Moscow Mule Day - March 3
Historical research is so much fun! While I've heard of Heublein, Inc. all of my life, I never knew the full story about Hartford's iconic liquor wholesaler.
The company actually started out as a hotel and restaurant that was opened by German immigrant, Andrew Heublein, in 1859. To help celebrate a Governors Footguard event, the restaurant mixed up a gallon each of Martinis and Manhattans. That led to a new company that produced pre-mixed cocktails, called Heublein Club Cocktails, and also distributed liquor.
When prohibition began, Heublein (now under ownership by Andrew's two sons) began producing A-1 steak sauce to help the company survive the dry spell. However, while it helped, due to the depression the company was in dire straits.
What does all this have to do with National Moscow Mule day? Well, John G. Martin, Andrew's great-grandson, made a magnificent deal to purchase the rights to producing Smirnoff Vodka, which was the beginning of improved financial health. And, to put Smirnoff on the map, he came up with an ingenious marketing plan that included creating several cocktails made with the Russian spirit, one of which was the Moscow Mule.
Below is a wonderful video of John Martin, himself, telling the Smirnoff story and how the Moscow Mule was created and marketed.
I'm fascinated by the video, perhaps because the interview was conducted at the Martin farm in Burlington, CT, where some very dear friends currently reside. But, being a marketing person I'm impressed with Mr. Martin's business acumen.
In honor of the National holiday, I say mix up the original Smirnoff Moscow Mule recipe, watch the video, and toast to John's genius!
Be sure to stop at Sammy's Buy-rite to pick up the ingredients you need to make this unique and very tasting cocktail. It's truly a refreshing sipper and certainly celebratory-worthy!
$12.99/750ml, $17.99/liter, $19.99/1.75 liter 
$3.99/btl
Original Smirnoff Moscow Mule
1.5 oz Smirnoff Vodka
3 oz Ginger Beer
Squeeze of fresh lime juice
Mix vodka and ginger beer in a copper mug over ice. Add the squeeze of lime and garnish with a lime wedge.
Don't have a copper mug? A rocks glass will do nicely.