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My Favorite Moscow Mule Recipe. A hand-lettered ode to my favorite local Moscow Mule, plus my simple DIY version of the recipe!

This post is part of my new Dawn Nicole at Home series + Passion Project. Read more about how it came to be here.

My Favorite Moscow Mule Recipe

I’m a bit of a Moscow Mule connoisseur. If we’re eating out, and there’s one on the cocktail menu, that’s what I pick. My absolute favorite local one is the Black & Blue Mule from Tavern & Table. If you’re ever in Charleston, SC I highly recommend you make this one of your restaurant stops. Their Fried Deviled Eggs and Parmesan Brussels Sprouts are crazy delicious.

During the week, I focused on being healthy: clean eating, doing my Liift4 workouts, and (with the occasional exception), no alcohol. But when Friday rolls around, I love to whip up my DIY version of this spicy and sweet Moscow Mule.

The Black & Blue Mule at Tavern & Table

Moscow Mule Recipe

• Copper Mule Mugs (I got ours on Amazon here.)
• Ice
• Vodka (We love the Icelandic Reyka brand or Tito’s.)
• Berry Jam (I usually use the Four Fruits Jam by Bonne Maman, but any “chunky” berry jam will do.)
• Goya Jamaican-Style Ginger Beer (It’s gotta be Goya. Theirs is spicier than others, and that’s what gives this cocktail its kick. Our server at Tavern & Table told me so! If you can’t find Goya, which is usually in the International Foods aisle not the soda aisle, try to find Reed’s Extra Ginger Brew.)
• 4″ Bamboo Skewers (I get these here.)
• Candied Ginger (Don’t skip this. It’s soooo good. I get the Trader Joe’s brand via Amazon.)
• Blackberries

Fill a copper mug generously with ice. Add 1-2 tbsp jam and 1.5 ounces vodka and gently stir. Top with Goya Ginger Beer. Put 1-2 slices candied ginger and one blackberry on a skewer and place it on the glass. Enjoy!

Hand-Lettering the Moscow Mule Artwork

Since I’m still a lettering blog, let’s talk about how I created the artwork for this post, shall we?

Setting up the Shot

First I set up the shot near a window on my kitchen table. I place tri-fold white foam core boards to bounce the light from the window on the alternate sides as shown below. I adjust the window blinds as needed to darken/brighten the light. Then a take a butt-load of photos, ha!

I go through the photos later, pick a few favorites and edit them until I get THE photo I want to letter on.

Adding the Lettering

Then I move that photo to my iPad Pro and open it in the Procreate App to start sketching out the lettering. I did this step from bed the other night.

Once I’ve got a rough sketch I’m happy with, I reduce the opacity of the layer and add new layers for the final lettering work. I like to keep each ingredient on its own layer because it’s easier to edit and change things later in the process.

Here’s a super sped up 30-second time-lapse video of the piece from sketch to final artwork. I’m not sure how many hours I worked on this total, but my guess is four. I held my Apple Pencil so long I got a blister on my finger!

The Final Artwork

I export the final artwork from Procreate as a JPG and bring it into Photoshop to add my logo. Even now, I see things I’d like to edit and change, but at some point, I stop and call it “good enough”. If I were doing it for a client, I’d keep editing until it was “perfect”.

Random Fact:

When I first started this blog in 2011, I posted recipes, sewing tutorials, and DIYs. Many of you only know it as a lettering blog, but I’ve missed posting about a wider variety of topics. I hope you enjoy how I weave these “Dawn Nicole at Home” posts into the blog, often with a lettering twist like this post.

I hope you enjoy this yummy Moscow Mule Recipe as much as we do. 😊

Cheers!

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