The Texas Raspberry Buck came together from four separate, but welcome events. The first two were a gifted bottle of Texas whiskey and some fresh, ripe raspberries. That naturally, led me to infuse the whiskey! It was delicious both neat and on the rocks, but my inner voice nagged at me to do something more.

I longed for a cocktail with complementary components that harmonized with the raspberry whiskey. Then I spied a mule mug on the kitchen counter. A recent trip to Kentucky ended with a care package from another friend, full of marketing materials from a favorite distiller. The mule mug was mixed in there and I had forgotten to put it away. It was the third event that gave me the inspiration to riff on an old standby – the Moscow Mule.

Is It a Mule or a Buck?

Technically, a Buck is any spirit combined with citrus juice and ginger ale or ginger beer. Mule is the more popular name because of its association with the famous vodka cocktail, but I’m not using vodka.

The Late Summer

Our warm and dry late summer evenings were the final gift. The great weather doesn’t happen every year and that makes it extra special, spurring me to create my new cocktail.  Substituting the infused whiskey into a traditional mule created a fantastic, refreshing drink to match the weather.