Let’s bring a summer twist to your traditional Kentucky mule! With a double dose of fruit, spicy ginger kick and bubbly finish, this cherry-orange Kentucky mule is bursting with fresh, seasonal flavor in every sip.Â
When patio season hits, mules are always one of my favorite go-to entertaining cocktails. Whether it’s my cherry-orange Kentucky mule, strawberry-mint Moscow mule or grapefruit gin mule, these gingery cocktails suit just about everyone’s taste.Â
You can skip the fruit or use your favorite variety, and all sorts of fresh herbs make a lovely flavor addition. Mint, rosemary, thyme, cilantro and sage are all tasty options.Â
And how fun is that copper mug? So fun!Â
Plus, mules couldn’t be easier to make, and they require hardly any prep time. See? There isn’t a more perfect cocktail for entertaining.Â
While I love all kinds of mules, I’m especially excited to bring you this fruity Kentucky mule because it offers the option to use my beloved cherry-infused bourbon. Of course, I realize you may not have cherry-infused bourbon on hand. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on this mule, so I also included directions to still get that cherry flavor without the infusion.Â
That said, I hope you eventually make my cherry-infused bourbon, which is not only delicious in this cocktail but also my cherry bourbon smash and bourbon cherry limeade. In the meantime, I have no doubt you’ll love my alternative mixology method. Now let’s get to it.
How to Make
To prepare this delicious cherry-orange Kentucky mule, we start by cutting the bottom of an orange. This allows the orange to safely sit up without rolling around. We then cut off a piece of the orange peel by moving a paring knife downward. Although we won’t use the peel until the very end, I like to have it ready to go.
From here, we take out our trusty cocktail shaker and pour freshly squeezed orange juice with a few mint leaves and start muddling. If you don’t have cherry-infused bourbon, add a handful of pitted and stemmed cherries as well. Now we add our bourbon and shake it all up with a handful of ice, strain into copper mugs and top with the ginger beer.
For the perfect finishing touch, we take the orange peel and twist it over our drink. This releases those aromatic orange oils for an extra citrusy boost. I also like to take a mint sprig, place it in one hand and quickly clap the other hand on top. Like twisting the peel, this releases the mint’s fragrance.Â
Now sit back, sip and enjoy this tasty cocktail in hand. Life is good, huh?
Do I Need Copper Mugs for Mule Cocktails?
I adore the special touch of serving Moscow mules in a traditional copper mug. For those hot summer days, the copper insulates our cherry-orange Kentucky mule for the utmost refreshing sipper. In fact, on particularly hot days, I’m even known to drink other cocktails out of my copper mugs for the extra coolness factor.
However, you can certainly serve these mules in a simple old fashioned glass if you don’t have copper mugs on hand. Copper mules are fun, but they’re certainly not required for this cherry Kentucky mule.
Perfect Pairing
I love a good Asian-inspired dish with mules. That spicy ginger kick makes for a perfect match. Enter this crispy red chili beef. Some Korean-inspired tacos would also be delicious with this mule, and I always love tacos in the summer. Not that tacos aren’t amazing throughout the year, of course. But there’s something about that summer that feels like taco season.
For the perfect summer entertaining cocktail, I hope you try this cherry-orange Kentucky mule. Please let me know how you enjoyed this recipe in the comment section and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. You can also catch me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.
Cheers!
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Cherry-Orange Kentucky Mule
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
Description
Let’s bring a summer twist to your traditional Kentucky mule! With a double dose of fruit, spicy ginger kick and bubbly finish, this cherry-orange Kentucky mule is bursting with fresh, seasonal flavor in every sip.
Ingredients
1 orange
2 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice
8–10 mint leaves
About 6 cherries, pitted and stemmed, if not using cherry-infused bourbon
2 ounces cherry-infused bourbon or regular bourbon
Ice
6 ounces ginger beer
Mint sprig, for garnish, optional
Whole cherries, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Using a paring knife, cut off the bottom of the orange and use that as the base. Carefully cut off a piece of peel by moving the knife away from yourself in a downward direction. Try to cut shallowly to minimize the amount of white pith. Set aside.
- Pour the orange juice and pitted cherries if not using infused bourbon into a cocktail shaker. Add mint leaves and muddle. Once the cherries break down, add the bourbon, a handful of ice, put the cocktail shaker top on and vigorously shake for about 15-30 seconds.
- Replace the cocktail shaker top with a cocktail strainer. Pour into an ice-filled copper mug and top with ginger beer. Gently stir. Over the drink, squeeze and twist the orange peel to release its oils and drop into mug. Take mint sprig and place in the palm of your hand, quickly clap your other hand on top to release the fragrance and garnish. Add additional cherries if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
- Category: Cocktails
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 drink
- Calories: 262
- Sugar: 25
- Sodium: 3
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 27
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: Moscow mule, kentucky mule, cherry mule, cherry kentucky mule, cherry Moscow mule
Yum, this sounds like the perfect summery drink. Love the flavour combo in here. So refreshing.
★★★★★
It’s so great for summer! I think you’ll love it.
Love the bursting of fruit flavors. A total refresher. I love it and love the presentation too.
★★★★★
Thanks, Veena!