434: Moscow Mules

Molly 0:03

I'm Molly.

Matthew Amster-Burton 0:04

And I'm Matthew.

Molly 0:05

And this is spilled milk, the show where we cook something delicious sometimes or just sit in our closets and talking to microphones.

Matthew Amster-Burton 0:14

Yep. And today we're talking about Moscow mules.

Molly 0:18

Indeed it is 9:36am on a Monday morning, and Matthew and I are on opposite sides of the city. And sadly, neither of us is drinking a Moscow Mule. But I happen to know that you did not too long ago

Matthew Amster-Burton 0:31

now. Yeah, the night before last. Yeah. But I mean, I think the thing is, like, at this point in history, like if you were sitting in your closet, drinking a Moscow Mule, no one would think that was particularly upsetting.

Molly 0:43

No, no, I mean, you've seen the meme going around people like you know, eating lasagna in the shower or whatever, which seems totally sane to me. So, yeah, I mean, frankly, Matthew, I now I can't leave my closet to go make a Moscow Mule because we're taping but when it's done, it's like, you know, all bets are off Moscow. mule? 10am.

Matthew Amster-Burton 1:03

Yeah, no, I mean, I have a feeling at some point during this taping, you're you're gonna like suddenly like need to go to the bathroom or need a Moscow Mule or something and just like drag your entire studio behind you across the house clanking as you go.

Molly 1:15

Yeah, probably.

Matthew Amster-Burton 1:16

I can't wait to see this.

Molly 1:18

Anyway, all right. Well, this episode was suggested by listener Kate. Wait a minute. Last week's episode suggested by listener Kate to

Matthew Amster-Burton 1:28

it sure was. This is this is a double Kate. It's a Kate on Kate. It's it's to Kate's in a row.

Molly 1:34

Wow. Okay,

Matthew Amster-Burton 1:35

so first of all, let's pretend I never said any of the things I just said. And secondly, I think these are the same Kate but who can be sure. Um, have you ever considered

Molly 1:43

when you when you put the name like listener Kate into our episode suggestions. Have you ever considered putting a last name on our listeners? Well,

Matthew Amster-Burton 1:55

I've never thought about it. Like some people have a name where it just sounds better. If you say the first and last name. I feel like we were getting into this recently with something we were talking about Matt Dillon, I found that I was I was matching Matt Dillon a lot. I couldn't say just Matt or Dylan or I couldn't say Mr. Delon because that's his dad.

Molly 2:13

No, no, you can't. Well, it's

Unknown Speaker 2:14

kind of like,

Molly 2:15

I don't know why this name just came to me. But if I'm talking about Wynonna writer, I'm not going to just say Wynonna like no. No, num. Oh, you're right.

Matthew Amster-Burton 2:27

Yeah.

Molly 2:28

Do you think that people do this with us? Like, have you seen the latest? host? Molly? Is that my full name now?

Matthew Amster-Burton 2:36

That's your last name now? Yeah.

Molly 2:38

The latest host Molly. I G post brah. Yeah. Oh, I

Matthew Amster-Burton 2:42

thought I thought maybe you were in a movie and I hadn't heard of it. heard about it.

Molly 2:46

Yeah, it's a movie called quarantine. It's the newest horror movie.

Matthew Amster-Burton 2:50

Yeah, I mean, we could be we could be like recording the video of this. No one would watch that. That's true.

Molly 2:56

Okay, well, anyway, memory lane. Let's go down Moscow Mule memory lane.

Matthew Amster-Burton 3:01

Yeah, I don't remember when I first had a Moscow Mule. I don't think it was that long ago, because I think they had like a big surge in popularity, maybe like five or 10 years ago. Does that seem right?

Molly 3:14

You know, this is something I should know, since I'm the one who did the the research for this episode. But actually, I can't I can't really tell

Matthew Amster-Burton 3:23

you about credit really basing this on anything other other than my that's when I started hearing everyone talking about it. There was there were it was like a bunch of articles about people stealing copper mugs, or maybe like Angry Twitter posts from local restaurants or something, but like, people were stealing copper mugs.

Molly 3:39

Oh, okay. So I think that my memory lane of Moscow mules if we were to make a visual of it, I would say that and we could, it begins at the same time that Rachel Marshall here in Seattle launched Rachel's ginger beer. Because Seattle, you know, so many places use rightfully so Rachel's ginger beer in their Moscow Mule. It is the most delicious ginger beer. Anyway, and so I think that that Moscow meals kind of came on my personal horizon when Rachel started making her ginger beer. And then I think, you know, at Delancey or Essex, we of course, started making Moscow mules with her ginger beer, and then nothing was ever the same in a good way. Exactly.

Matthew Amster-Burton 4:24

As I was drinking my Moscow Mule the other night, I was struck by the fact that ginger beer is such a strong flavor that it's not there's not a huge difference between drinking a bottle of ginger beer and drinking a Moscow Mule. Like there's a lot of, you know, there's alcohol in it. So that's different and like, sort of ceremonially if you've got one of those copper mugs. It feels different, but it's really just drinking some ginger beer.

Molly 4:47

Do you think that this is more about the ginger beer or about the fact that vodka just kind of tastes like nothing once it's in a drink?

Matthew Amster-Burton 4:54

I think it's both. Okay, I think you're absolutely right. Well, maybe not like a slick I am on the Moscow Mule. You know, like I, I love a Moscow Mule and like, I also love putting lime juice in anything, but it is all about like choosing a good ginger beer.

Molly 5:10

Okay, okay, so hold on, I think we need to get straight to what a Moscow Mule is.

Matthew Amster-Burton 5:14

That's a good point, we

Molly 5:15

might have some listeners who live on the moon, or who live under a rock or who are living in their closets now like you and that's true. And anyway, I think that they might want to know what a Moscow Mule is. So I'm

Matthew Amster-Burton 5:30

sending a Moscow Mule to each of those listeners. Oh, I wish I would do that.

Molly 5:36

Do we have like some giant corporate sponsor who's going to help us with that that I'm unaware of? Oh.

Matthew Amster-Burton 5:43

Oh, dry. The feeder? No, that's Jen. Smirnoff.

Molly 5:49

Big lime. Big lime is gonna help us with that because

Matthew Amster-Burton 5:53

this is lime juice.

Molly 5:55

All right. Anyway, Matthew, here's what you need to know. The basic ingredients of a Moscow Mule are vodka, ginger, beer and lime juice. All right. But here's what I didn't know. It is a type of cocktail called a buck. So a cocktail made with Jagger I didn't know this either. A cocktail made with ginger ale or ginger beer plus citrus juice plus any kind of liquor is a buck.

Matthew Amster-Burton 6:17

And that's because it was invented by Peter Buck of REM right? Probably

Molly 6:21

probably. Yeah. Anyway, so so I guess you can call a Moscow Mule of vodka buck, though, who would want to do that when you can call it a Moscow Mule?

Matthew Amster-Burton 6:31

That's true. But a vodka vodka Bock is kind of fun to say because all those hard consonants it's true. That's vodka, buck. Oh, I think in cowboy

Molly 6:43

Okay, wait. So in our kiwifruit episode, you became coach Hayward and Woody vines. You were you were a couple of different football coaches. So what is vodka buck do

Matthew Amster-Burton 6:57

vodka is a Russian cowboy. And like I just, you know, I drive cattle across the plains of Siberia in the winter. I have one of those ice Road Truckers and I drive cattle across the lake by call

Molly 7:11

somebody got it?

Matthew Amster-Burton 7:12

It's a good job. You know, not everyone can live off the land the way the way we Russian cowboys do. Yeah. But that's that's just how I grew up.

Molly 7:20

And, you know, do you have like outposts out there on the tundra the way that they do in Antarctica? I

Matthew Amster-Burton 7:28

have outposts. I have nothing but outposts. What's an outpost? It's just like, it's like a big like a cardboard box where I like I store supplies. Yes. Or like a little hut or something.

Molly 7:42

It's it's frankly, where you're storing your vodka. Really? And maybe some toilet

Matthew Amster-Burton 7:46

paper. Okay, so I keep I keep a box of vodka and toilet paper like, hey, every couple of miles across the Siberian steppes is is that where steps are?

Molly 7:59

Okay, all right. Anyway, so Okay, hold on. Can I tell you some more about a Moscow Mule vodka buck,

Matthew Amster-Burton 8:05

please, I'm probably gonna get trapped with more information about about the life of a Russian cowboy, but go ahead. Okay. All right. No, that's me. I'm vodka Bach. Everyone knows that.

Molly 8:14

So anyway, all right. A Moscow Mule is traditionally served in a Copper Mug. Here's a little interesting thing I learned about copper mugs. And maybe you already thought about this. Have you ever like seen I don't know like at some antique shop or something like that, like an old Copper Mug or like a brass cup or something and thought to yourself What? Like that doesn't seem right to drink out of that thing.

Matthew Amster-Burton 8:37

When was the last time I went to an antique shop? What was I guess when we when we're in California with the Folk Music Center which has a lot of old acoustic instruments but no copper mugs? Yeah, let's say for the sake of Yes, adding that I've always I'm always browsing the the ancient mug section in an antique shop.

Molly 8:58

Okay, well, here's the deal. You should not drink anything that's acidic. out of a Copper Mug or a brass mug or a you know, a brass bowl or a piece of copper you find lying on the ground or just don't drink out of it.

Matthew Amster-Burton 9:12

I didn't like chug stuff through a copper pipe?

Molly 9:14

Probably not. Probably not because here's the deal. So in the presence of acids, like fruit juice, or vinegar or whatever, copper starts to dissolve and then of course, you know, you don't want to get that in your bloodstream. So you will notice that most of the Moscow Mule mugs that we encounter in the world, even though they're copper on the outside, they're lined with like either stainless steel or nickel, or whatever. But anyway, can I tell you of the many origin stories that I found for Moscow meals there? They're like all related but different.

Matthew Amster-Burton 9:47

Is there Wait Is there gonna be part of the story were like at some point in history, everyone was drinking Moscow mules from unlined copper mugs and like all of society went a little crazy and that's why the Roman Empire fell or something. I mean, that's That explains the behavior of the average Russian cowboy, which is not normal. Ah,

Molly 10:06

you think it's like it's copper poisoning?

Matthew Amster-Burton 10:08

I think i think it's it's time it's about time. What was my name again, vodka gets tested for copper poisoning, because it would explain a lot of copper box of vodka box strange behavior. Like, for example, for getting his own name all the time.

Molly 10:29

All right. Okay. So here's the usual origin story of the mosque. Okay. All right. So, and by the way, like, the first time I read through this, it was completely unintelligible the website where

Matthew Amster-Burton 10:44

I found it online. So I think it was copper poisoning that made it unintelligible. Either either you or the writer.

Molly 10:50

Yeah. Anyway, I'm feeling really proud of my ability to distill this into an intelligible story. So please appreciate what I'm about to share with you

Matthew Amster-Burton 11:00

know, this is why I wanted you to research this episode. And this is not a joke because like, anytime there's like corporate history and PR maneuvering involved in a story. You can tell it like no one else.

Molly 11:11

Oh, my God, wow, I can I use that as a blurb on my next book, even if it's about corporate history.

Matthew Amster-Burton 11:18

You can use it as blurb on your current book. I mean, I know it's already been printed and stuff that you could just like Sharpie it on.

Molly 11:24

Okay. All right. All right. So here's the deal. Okay. So you got two main characters, as far as I can tell, in all the origin stories, and two main characters are the same. You got this guy. His last name is Martin. And he is like, you can think of him as the Smirnoff vodka guy. Okay, okay. All right. But he's he's in the States. I think he like owns the rights to Smirnoff or something in the state. Yeah,

Matthew Amster-Burton 11:48

I don't know. Like, this

Molly 11:49

doesn't make any sense already. I

Matthew Amster-Burton 11:51

think it does make sense to me because I think there are a lot of vodka brands that have a Russian name because that's what people expect of vodka, but are really not related to Russia at all. Okay, this makes, Smirnoff is one of them, but it's certainly possible.

Molly 12:06

Okay. Well, so you've got this guy. His last name is Martin. All right. He's your Smirnoff vodka guy. Then you've got this other guy. His last name is Morgan. Wouldn't you think they could have had more different last names to make this story easier?

Matthew Amster-Burton 12:19

I mean, like Marcia and Morgan, Martin and Morgan. Anyway,

Molly 12:24

so Morgan. This guy owns the cock and bull Tavern in Hollywood.

Matthew Amster-Burton 12:30

All right, we're talking about like Hollywood, California or Hollywood, Florida,

Molly 12:33

Hollywood, California. So this is like around World War Two era. Okay, you've got you got Morgan. He owns the cock and bull Tavern in Hollywood. And he's got this side business making ginger beer. Perhaps you've heard of cockin bowl ginger beer.

Matthew Amster-Burton 12:48

That's what I use for I Moscow Mule? Oh, really? Whatever day that was Saturday. Oh,

Molly 12:52

okay, hold on. I gotta turn the page. Hold on. Okay. Okay, so anyway, you got these two guys. You got the Smirnoff vodka guy. You got the Campbell ginger beer guy. Apparently neither of their products was selling. Well, that seems unlikely.

Matthew Amster-Burton 13:07

But yeah, well, I don't know. Like, it's the vodka part that I'm skeptical of. Because like, you know, some some bartenders, like, ginger beer concern, maybe, maybe not.

Molly 13:17

Sure. So most versions of this story. So the two guys met during World War Two, and then the drink was created after the war in an effort to sell their two products. Okay. And in some of the versions of this story, there was a third person in some cases, Morgan's girlfriend, we could call her Okay. Ms. Morgan.

Matthew Amster-Burton 13:41

Okay, she why she took his name even though they weren't word married. unusual, but okay.

Molly 13:46

Anyway, she apparently said that. So in some versions of the story, there's this third person sometimes it's Ms. Morgan. Okay. This third person like had copper mugs to sell or something. So you can see this is all coming together into a row story.

Matthew Amster-Burton 14:03

She ran an antique store.

Molly 14:05

Exactly. Anyway, so So basically, you know, all these these people who needed to sell their products came together and made a new product.

Matthew Amster-Burton 14:14

This is very this is I love this story. Because I imagined Now we could we could tell the story about any product like yeah, the suave shampoo was invented when you know, Bobby Schmitz had a bunch of sodium lauryl sulfate

Molly 14:29

and panthenol

Matthew Amster-Burton 14:31

right. Like, what if we put you know these things are not selling? Well, like nobody wants to buy my sulfates? What if we put them together? Put it on our heads and see

Molly 14:43

God Okay, well put Matthew here is where this thrilling intrigue comes in.

Matthew Amster-Burton 14:48

Hope you're ready. Okay, sir. Ready?

Molly 14:50

So you know, so most people say, you know, Morgan and Martin met during World War Two the drink was created after the war. All right, however, the first one No mention of the drink was actually from December 1942.

Matthew Amster-Burton 15:07

Oh, you'll note

Molly 15:08

that that was not after World War Two. All right.

Matthew Amster-Burton 15:11

No, it was right in the thick of things.

Molly 15:13

Yes. So there was a newspaper article in December 1942, saying that this drink was a quote craze in the quote, movie colony of Hollywood.

Matthew Amster-Burton 15:25

I love that phrase.

Molly 15:26

I love saying movie colony.

Matthew Amster-Burton 15:27

Yes, it's great.

Molly 15:29

So, you know, the Moscow Mule this origin story would have it happening being born at the cochon bowl Tavern in Hollywood. And somehow copper mugs came on the scene maybe because it was a tavern and they served their beer in Copper Mug. I don't

Matthew Amster-Burton 15:44

I don't know. And I'm not sure in this version like how does how does the the vodka Guy Martin, come? Come into the story?

Molly 15:51

I'm not sure. Okay. Okay, let's move on to a different a different story.

Matthew Amster-Burton 15:56

Oh, wow. Okay, actually, this is like, what's a what's a movie like this like run Lola run? Like, it could have happened any of these ways?

Molly 16:04

Well, but here's here's the bummer I have to tell you about. It involves the same characters just at a different time.

Matthew Amster-Burton 16:13

Okay, are you ready? And those characters are vodka, Bach, Woody vines. And Ms. Morgan coach a word. Coach a word.

Unknown Speaker 16:22

Okay. All right.

Molly 16:24

So a different origin story says that it dates from 1941. This sounds more plausible given that there was a newspaper article about it in 1942.

Matthew Amster-Burton 16:34

That makes sense.

Molly 16:35

This particular story, which dates the origin to 1941 this story was put forth by the New York Herald Tribune in 1948. I hope you're keeping track of all these dates because there's gonna be a quiz.

Matthew Amster-Burton 16:47

Oh boy. Yeah, no, I I have not been studying for my history test. And now realize I shouldn't have been studying because all this is gonna be on it.

Molly 16:55

Your World War Two cocktails test?

Matthew Amster-Burton 16:57

Yeah. All right. So

Molly 16:58

this particular story from the New York Herald Herald Tribune, claims that the Moscow Mule was actually born in Manhattan, but somehow first footing on the west coast. So this story has it that it was invented at the Chatham Hotel in Manhattan in 1941, when the first carload of cock and bull ginger beer arrived in New York.

Matthew Amster-Burton 17:24

And just like all of a sudden, boom, we turn into los cambios.

Molly 17:27

Hold on. Now, here we have our protagonists again, apparently three friends were at the bar Morgan, our cockin bowl guy who must have come out with the car load of cockin ball, I

Matthew Amster-Burton 17:38

must have come out with the car load.

Molly 17:39

He was probably riding on top of the train making vodka, Buck, cowboy, whooping and hollering noises.

Matthew Amster-Burton 17:46

Like, do you think so? You didn't even tell me until now, when I see it on the agenda that not only do Morgan and Martin have pretty much the same last name, but they have pretty much the same first name, too.

Molly 17:56

I know. It's too confusing. It's confusing me.

Matthew Amster-Burton 17:59

It's fine when we make the movie that that host Molly is going to star and we'll change these names.

Molly 18:04

Okay. All right. Anyway, so So now you've got this. The setting is Manhattan. You've got Morgan, the cock and bull guy, you've got Martin, who is the vodka guy. He's the president of the company that like owns Smirnoff vodka or something. All right. And then you've got this like, third guy. I'm not even gonna say his name because it makes things too confusing. But anyway, they're sitting in the bar at the Chatham Hotel in Manhattan. they hatched this idea and they try it and boom, mule. Isn't that exciting? Oh, you're a little frozen.

Matthew Amster-Burton 18:44

Alright, so you are telling the story of how the Moscow Mule was born in New York.

Unknown Speaker 18:50

Boom, Cha Ching.

Molly 18:51

And there you go.

Matthew Amster-Burton 18:53

Have we ever had an idea where we said, boom, Cha Ching.

Molly 18:57

Worked? You know, I think when we came up with the idea for this podcast,

Unknown Speaker 19:01

we say yeah,

Matthew Amster-Burton 19:03

boom, Cha Ching.

Molly 19:05

Because that's what everybody thinks when they think about podcasts.

Matthew Amster-Burton 19:08

Right? But to be fair, like over the first two years, we made upwards of $400. Total.

Molly 19:17

Wait a minute, Matthew, are you meeting expenses there? I

Matthew Amster-Burton 19:20

mean, it's true. Not including our expenses. We know, we we made a profit of upwards of negative $1,000.

Molly 19:30

Great. All right. Well, Matthew, what you're gonna like is that there's one more twist on this story.

Matthew Amster-Burton 19:36

I'm gonna love that.

Molly 19:37

Yeah. Some say that the drink was actually invented by the bartender at the cockin bowl. And no, not by either of these guys. And you know, being someone who I'm always rooting for the underdog, I think. I don't know. But I really like this story. This says that Wes price, who was a bartender at the cock and bull was the one who actually came out With this when he was trying to clear out the bars cellar, get rid of like a bunch of unused stuff. I guess vodka and ginger beer were some of the unused things.

Matthew Amster-Burton 20:08

That seems like weird things to find, like unused in the cellar of your bar. Right? Well, we've got a bunch. We got a bunch of alcohol. I mean, okay, on the one hand, it's not weird at all, because like, what else are you gonna have on hand? Like if you found if you found oil barrels down there, that would be weirder. So Never mind.

Molly 20:25

Okay. Anyway, so none of these stories is very exciting. But it is kind of interesting to me to learn that somehow the guy behind cock and bull ginger beer was involved. And somehow a vodka company was involved. That part seems kind of obvious. But

Matthew Amster-Burton 20:40

so a Russian cowboy and big lime words. Yes.

Molly 20:44

Yes. You know, then there's also really a question of whether this was an original drink to start with because ginger beer had been mixed with other liquors before, like whiskey. Oh, yeah. So so in the early part of the 1900s. I saw David is like, between 19 119 40 there was this cocktail called the Mamie Taylor.

Matthew Amster-Burton 21:09

That the name of the of the woman who was disgraced on the BBC a few weeks ago on the mackerel episode, maybe

Molly 21:17

we did that

Matthew Amster-Burton 21:18

wasn't that Fannie kradic and Fannie kradic. That sounds a lot like maybe Taylor, I think.

Molly 21:23

Anyway, all right. So the Mamie Taylor cocktail was ginger beer, whiskey and lime

Matthew Amster-Burton 21:30

by episode was that it wasn't the macro.

Molly 21:33

Macro, Fannie kradic. was because remember, she was she popular some something? Yeah. I guess listeners, our listeners are screaming once again, at

Matthew Amster-Burton 21:49

the same way Fanny kradic was screaming at that poor woman on the BBC show.

Molly 21:54

Okay, anyway,

Matthew Amster-Burton 21:55

we're not gonna take it anymore.

Molly 21:57

So there's a very good chance that the Moscow Mule is just like a vodka isation of the Mamie Taylor. Alright. I mean, and this would make a lot of sense because apparently in the initial marketing of Smirnoff vodka in the US, they referred to it as a white whiskey. Wow, I didn't know this at all.

Yeah, yeah. The early marketing was quote, Smirnoff white whiskey, no taste, no smell and quote, that

Matthew Amster-Burton 22:24

is so weird,

Unknown Speaker 22:26

right?

Matthew Amster-Burton 22:26

I want to see one of these ads. Why? no taste no smell.

Molly 22:31

Anyway, the popularity of the Copper Mug, despite what I said earlier about Ms. Morgan, whose name was almost certainly not Ms. Morgan.

Matthew Amster-Burton 22:41

The good thing about the white whiskey having no taste and no smell is when vodka book like stores it at his outposts. It doesn't attract wolves. Oh, cuz Yeah, if it had a taste or smell wolves would come and break the bottles open and look it up.

Molly 22:56

There is nothing worse than getting to your your outpost on the tundra and discovery that the wolves have gotten to your stash of white whiskey. Yeah, no,

Matthew Amster-Burton 23:05

I was like, I was gonna drink this white whiskey to like kind of kind of blast off the perma frost on my beard. And now and now I have to fight a pack of wolves, which I would do.

Molly 23:14

Yeah, well, I hope you'll I hope you'll take a selfie while you're fighting the pack of wolves because it sounds really cool. And

Matthew Amster-Burton 23:21

I'm going to post that I'll take a boomerang and I'll post it on our Instagram spelled out podcast. Fighting a pack of wolves.

Molly 23:28

Yeah. Okay. Anyway, so the popularity of the Copper Mug is usually attributed to Martin that's our Smirnoff vodka guy who went around the US to sell Smirnoff vodka and popularized the market Moscow Mule. And apparently, he would ask bartenders to pose with some special Copper Mug and a bottle of Smirnoff, and then he would take Polaroids of them.

Matthew Amster-Burton 23:50

This sounds dirty. Yes. I'm so glad you said that. Because I was thinking like, and now can we get one with your shirt off? You know, just for fun, right?

Molly 23:58

Yeah. Can you just raise your pant leg a little

Matthew Amster-Burton 24:01

higher? Yeah,

Molly 24:02

yeah. Anyway, um, hold on Matthew. This is the part of the show I've been looking forward to the most.

Matthew Amster-Burton 24:07

Okay, very excited.

Molly 24:09

This is the part where we get to we get two different types of buck. So remember, a buck is a ginger beer cocktail that uses citrus, right?

Matthew Amster-Burton 24:18

Yeah, different types of buck like buck Henry, Buck Owens wide. I don't know who any of these people are. These are just like names of famous books of the past that that came to mind.

Molly 24:28

I was thinking of like dollars like that kind of buck.

Matthew Amster-Burton 24:33

I anyway, I know we've talked about this before. But at some point when I was a kid, I think we looked this up and like maybe found the opening credits on YouTube. But there was a brief briefly a show called nickels and dimes that was not related to the the Barbara Ehrenreich book nickeled and dimed. But it was maybe a Western show or maybe a cop show or something. And I remember one of the main characters was named buck Nichols really does this out. I'm familiar at all. Yes, it does. d h o l l s maybe? I bet we talked about it on some one of the many episodes where you talked about nickel sales.

Molly 25:09

Probably. Okay, hold on. Are you ready to talk about variations on a Moscow Mule or or so ready? A vodka buck? All right. So if bourbon is used, the drink is called a Kentucky meal or a horse feather. What's the worst feather?

Matthew Amster-Burton 25:27

Well horsefeathers is it means like, like, you know, bullshit. Oh, really? Yeah. Like that's a load of horse feathers. It doesn't really exist.

Molly 25:36

I was thinking that maybe. Maybe it was like Pegasus is wings. And this was like, you know how Red Bull gives you wings? That bourbon buck gives you horsefeathers you should work in in marketing for some liquor company or

Matthew Amster-Burton 25:54

big lime.

Molly 25:55

I should I should Okay. All right, here we go. If Jim is used, it's called a gin gin mule. gin in there twice ginger. A London mule or a foghorn? Okay,

Matthew Amster-Burton 26:09

I've heard a term of London mule. All

Molly 26:11

right, well, then there are a bunch of predictable ones like if tequila is used. It's a Mexican mule spiced rum Jamaican mule, so on and so forth. If absinthe is used, it's a bohemian mule. Oh, interesting. I

Matthew Amster-Burton 26:24

would try that.

Molly 26:26

If absent and cinnamon schnapps. schnapps shops not shops. Wow. I've lost the ability to pronounce things. If absent and cinnamon shops are used. It's called a dead man's mule.

Matthew Amster-Burton 26:38

I learned once that's that sounds I don't think that sounds good. But I like the name of I learned at one point that in Denmark shops it's I think it's probably pronounced about the same but it's spelled sn a PS just like snaps, which is really fun.

Molly 26:53

That is fun. What hold on Have you noticed that I have not been able to determine why it's why any of these are a mule like oh mule and, you know now you're making mule what why is it a mule? I swear

Matthew Amster-Burton 27:09

I thought a mule also referred to a type of cocktail that maybe predated the Moscow Mule, but I probably making that up but I'm trying to look it up on Wikipedia right now. No, okay. Just took me to the article about the horse like thing.

Molly 27:25

Perfect. Oh,

Matthew Amster-Burton 27:27

mule. disambiguation. Okay. It's It's time for everyone's part of the show. Matthew spends time on Wikipedia. mule town, Ohio and unincorporated community. Okay. No, and you would have found this anyway, when you were looking at Moscow Mule, so my theory is wrong.

Molly 27:46

Okay. All right. Well, I would like to go on telling you about variations on the way you can meal Alright, so if it's garnish with rosemary and cranberries, it's a mistletoe mule.

Matthew Amster-Burton 27:57

And then and then you have to like kiss the underside of the mug if the

Molly 28:01

kiss under it. Yeah. Anyway, no, here is one. So if you use Mountain Dew in place of the ginger beer, so So just to clarify, this would be Mountain Dew plus vodka plus citrus juice.

Matthew Amster-Burton 28:15

Yeah, it's a Moscow mole. Oh, wait. I see that you change the mule into a mole but I don't know why. I don't know either. I just found these things on the internet and I hoped they would make sense when I shared them with you but they don't. Okay, so in Japan it's like widely known as a stereotype. stereotype that foxes love to eat fried tofu.

Molly 28:40

Serious?

Matthew Amster-Burton 28:41

Yeah, it's not a it's not actually true. No, no, but it's just like, you know,

Molly 28:44

it's a common myth. Like how we how we say that mice like cheese and like, honey, okay,

Matthew Amster-Burton 28:50

maybe there is a widely known stereotype that moles love to drink Mountain Dew. Think You're right, do and do extreme sports.

Molly 28:58

I think you're right. So as of the time we're taping this episode, so you know, early spring here in Seattle. My yard is starting to get mole hills in it. Oh, I think they're coming up looking for Mountain Dew. Yeah, I try. We're looking for bugs, but no mountain dew.

Matthew Amster-Burton 29:17

Alright, well, this is a perfect opportunity to do a scientific experiment. So water one of the mole hills with regular water, but one of them with Mountain Dew and see which one grows more.

Molly 29:26

Oh, this sounds like a perfect homeschooling assignment that my kids

Matthew Amster-Burton 29:31

want us to do. Okay, definitely give your give your kid a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew and say just like figure it out.

Molly 29:38

Okay. All right. Well, this has been homeschooling with vodka, Bach.

Matthew Amster-Burton 29:44

Oh, that's stretching. That's our million dollar idea. Everybody needs homeschooling materials. We're going to vodka Bach is going to make a series about survival wilderness, I guess. Like his tundra wilderness, not really wilderness Okay, surviving on the tundra with vodka Bock. You know, your kids need to know this and also like, mold how to do mold experiments. Okay?

Unknown Speaker 30:10

Okay cool.

Matthew Amster-Burton 30:13

Vodka bucks gonna teach you how to stock it out post it out for mountain dew on some garden animals.

Molly 30:21

I would like to ask our listeners this week to please go to our Facebook page that's facebook.com slash spilled milk podcast and tell us what do you want vodka buck to teach your children about? That's what he wants you to tell us this week.

Matthew Amster-Burton 30:37

That's a fantastic question.

Molly 30:39

Great. All right, so please let us know vodka buck. Well, I'm speaking for vodka Bach. Now he's gonna do his best to come up with the curriculum you need

Matthew Amster-Burton 30:48

as speaking as vodka buck, I approve this message.

Molly 30:51

Great. Okay, well, you can also find us on Instagram at Spilt Milk Podcast,

Matthew Amster-Burton 30:57

where we've definitely already posted a video of me taking a selfie while fighting off a pack of wolves that tried to drink my vodka. So definitely go check that out.

Molly 31:09

Okay, what else Matthew?

Matthew Amster-Burton 31:11

If you go to Instagram and don't see that we'll give you your money back for this episode. Our producer is Abby, Sir catella.

Molly 31:17

Thank you for listening to spilled milk, the show that has no taste and no smell.

Matthew Amster-Burton 31:25

I'm Matthew Amster-Burton.

Molly 31:27

And I'm Molly weissenberg.

I think that our new podcast name should be under the blankets and in the closet with Ira Glass.