Gin-Gin Mule

Ginger beer, and the spicier the better. Ginger ale is sweeter and far milder, so it turns this into a limp gin cooler with a mint leaf in it. If the ginger beer you buy is on the sweet side, pull the simple syrup back to 10 ml.

Press, don't grind. Four or five firm turns against the syrup is enough to release the oil. Shredding the leaves releases chlorophyll instead, which tastes green and faintly bitter, and it leaves you picking flecks out of your teeth for the rest of the glass.

A juniper-forward London dry. Ginger and mint will bulldoze anything soft or floral, and a bracing style keeps the drink from becoming ginger soda with a shadow of alcohol in it. Navy strength works well too, especially if your ginger beer is an aggressive one.

Up to a point. Combine the gin, lime juice and syrup in a bottle and keep it cold for a few hours. Leave out the mint and the ginger beer entirely. Add mint per glass and top at the moment of serving, or you hand people flat drinks.

A classic Gin-Gin Mule calls for 8 mint leaves Fresh mint, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Simple syrup, 45 ml (1.5 oz) Gin, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lime juice, 60 ml (2 oz) Ginger beer. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard Gin-Gin Mule is roughly 13% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it about as strong as a glass of wine.

A Gin-Gin Mule is muddled and built right in the serving glass — press the fresh ingredients gently to release juice and aromatic oils, then build the drink on top. No shaker needed.