John le Carré’s George Smiley is not much of a drinker, and when he does indulge, it most often will be a good glass of wine or single malt, or if pressured by courtesy to some guest, a sherry. Perhaps his long assignments in Germany left him with a taste for beer and the odd schnapps, but that too is unconfirmed.

The Moscow Mule, a cocktail in its own right, is sometimes associated with Smiley [1] by way of a play on words, since in ”Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (if you have not seen it, try the brilliant 1979 BBC mini-series starring Alec Guiness, not the disappointing 2011 remake), he is attempting to uncover a Russian mole within the Circus, the British Secret Service, someone passing documents to the class enemy, hence a “mule”.

• ½ ounce lime juice
• 2 ounces vodka
• 4 to 6 ounces ginger beer (NOT ginger ale please)
• thin cucumber slice to garnish

Squeeze the lime juice into a Collins glass (a copper Moscow Mule mug would be ideal but not easy to come by) and drop in the spent shell. Add 2 or 3 ice cubes, then pour in the vodka and fill with cold ginger beer. Garnish with a cucumber slice and serve with a stirring rod.

[1] See among others in the form of a trivia question between MI5 agents on a stakeout in first episode of the BBC series ”Spooks” (2002).