Ride the Mule (Alley Cat)

My friend Joe Heron, the owner and founder of Copper & Kings distillery in Kentucky (and the best thing we've discovered at K&L since sliced crystal meth), sent me this outstanding care package in the mail yesterday: a bottle of the unaged C&K brandy, a tall glass, and a bottle of the official C&K ginger beer. What you may not know about Joe is that he was twice previously the owner of a beverage company before setting up his Louisville distillery, so making soda or other bottled concoctions is no sweat for him. Copper & Kings is currently producing a ginger beer, a tonic water, a cream soda, and a standard cola—not really for profit, but just because they can (and because all those things mix well with their distillates).

So why the glass that says "Ride the mule"? Because Joe thinks making a Moscow Mule with his unaged (yet flavorful) brandy is far more interesting than the standard neutralized vodka. He's right, by the way. I arrived home this evening, my best friend the black alley cat (not mine, but he might as well be) sitting on my stoop, awaiting my return. "Let's hang out here and enjoy the evening breeze," I said to him. What's funny is that C&K actually makes a barrel-aged gin called Alley Cat with a black Bombay on the label just like mine. 

Feel free to use this photo for publicity, Joe.

-David Driscoll