This is another recipe that comes to me from one of the restaurants where my friend Andrea works. She is a server at a sushi restaurant, and this was one of the featured cocktails for a while. It is a Moscow Mule that is heavy on the ginger and additionally features matcha green tea powder. She had one when they put it on the menu and told me all about how great it is since we are both big fans of green tea flavored things. A few days later, she brought over some of the house made ginger syrup and we made them at my house. It's every bit as good as I imagined.
I am really grateful to her for introducing me to this drink! However, the original recipe did not include any ingredient list or instructions for preparing the ginger syrup and she is not a cook, so once it was gone, I had to figure that part out on my own. Thankfully she had seen the process of making the syrup and could describe it to me, and after a few attempts I was able to recreate it. My final recipe is below.
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RECIPE:
Matcha Green Tea Mule
adapted from Sushi Muramoto
Serves 1
2 ½ oz (75 ml) plain vodka
1 oz (30 ml) freshly squeezed lime juice
1 oz (30 ml) ginger syrup, recipe follows
1 tsp (5 g) matcha green tea powder
1-2 oz (30-60 ml) ginger beer
Lime wedge, for garnish
Ginger syrup (makes about 2 1/2 cups, enough for about 20 drink servings):
1/2 lb (225 g) fresh ginger root (after peeling and chopping, yields about 1 1/3 cups)
1/3 cup water
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
Prepare ginger syrup: Peel and finely chop the ginger. Place in the bowl of a food processor or blender with 1/3 cup water, and process until it forms a puree. Set aside. Place sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When all the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat, stir in ginger puree, and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Strain out the ginger with a tea strainer, reserving the syrup. Discard ginger. Allow syrup to cool completely. Store in a clean glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. (It is safe to consume for longer than that, but I find that its fiery bite disappears by the time it's about a month old.)
Prepare the drink: Shake vodka, lime juice, ginger syrup, and matcha powder with ice in a cocktail shaker until cold and well mixed. Strain into a copper mug or rocks glass with a few cubes of ice in it. Top with ginger beer and stir gently to combine. Top with a lime wedge and serve immediately.
Notes:
- Fresh squeezed lime juice is important here. Don't use bottled.
- I have used Korean soju instead of vodka when I didn't have vodka.
- I have used lime sparkling water when I didn't have ginger beer, and I think the ginger syrup still has enough of a kick that you don't really miss the extra bit of ginger.
- Other uses for the ginger syrup in case you have leftovers: drizzle over fresh fruit or ice cream, or stir into other drinks (I think it tastes good in sparkling water and tea but the sky is the limit).
