Government Mule

This drink ordered by a friend when we recently visited the 2941 restaurant in Falls Church instantly became a favorite of mine, even though I just got a taste. It was a well-balanced, remarkably refreshing drink that tasted great even on a cool spring day and would be awesome in the hot summer.

The restaurant's version listed dark rum to go with the lime, syrup and ginger beer, making it a kind of dark and stormy. Classic recipes usually use vodka (Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore apparently uses this version in a drink everyone raves about). The 2941 restaurant listed "Sri Lanka ghomme syrup" as the sweetener, though since the menu in general was ridden with proofreading errors, I presume they mean "gomme syrup" and God knows where they find a Sri Lanka version.

Gum syrup, to give it its English name, is sugar syrup with acacia gum added. Obviously, you could substitute sugar syrup but enough Web commenters praised the added effect of the gum as a binder and balancer in the drink that I ordered a bottle from Amazon (close as I could get to Sri Lanka).

Besides the ingredients, what made this drink so refreshing was being served in a metal mug filled with ice that kept the drink frosty. I had a very nice Vieux Carre that showed every sign of having been properly stirred instead of shaken. The problem with the large drinks served straight up is that they don't stay cold. There is apparently a bar in New York that solves the problem of super-sized drinks by serving half the drink in a chilled cocktail glass and the other half in a small beaker resting in ice. This way you can serve what is essentially a double -- for the much higher price -- without any extra work by the bartender while keeping the customer totally happy.

Once I get my gomme syrup I see a long, challenging period of getting the proportions just right.