Come home to the Copper Cup

A membership with the Copper Cup Club gets you $1 off mules every time you use it and $4 drinks on Monday nights.

Going to a bar can feel so formal and anonymous. You walk in, show your ID to someone who will forget your name the second they hand it back to you, stand in line at the bar and watch as four or five other customers who came in after you get served first. You hand over your cash and maybe never even make eye contact with the person pouring your favorite drink.

It’s more a business transaction than a social endeavor.

At many establishments, this scenario is expected and maybe even favored. But every now and then, it’s nice to have a regular place that knows who you are (cue “Cheers” theme song).

And for that kind of welcoming, familiar setting, the Copper Cup is the place to be. What could be more intimate than joining the one and only Copper Cup Club in Des Moines?

Just buy one of the bar’s many copper cups, drink as many of the different Moscow Mules as you like, and leave it there at the end of the night. It’ll be waiting for you whenever you decide to come back, whether it’s the next day or the next week. Right now the club has about 30 members, and owner Eric Hartung said he will probably cut it off at 60, depending on how much room he has for storing the cups.

The Copper Cup also offers bottle service of a similar fashion. Buy a bottle of your favorite liquor and the bartender will add a tag with your name on it and put it on its own special spot on the shelf. It’ll be there whenever you want to get a drink — until it runs out, that is. But they will only keep the spot so long as room is available. So if you don’t come in for a month, you risk losing the spot.

Cup Club members get even more perks and deals for bottle service and drinks, so it’s definitely worth signing up. Your first traditional mule is free when you join, and every one after that is $1 off.

Hartung also introduced his new Monday Members Night this week, when Copper Cup Club members get any drink for just $4 with their cup.

Try a Sexy Mule made with Ciroc Coconut Vodka, melon liquor, fresh raspberries, ginger beer and orange garnish. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it tastes like heaven. A more soothing flavor would be Hartung’s favorite, the Tea Time Mule, and one to get your party started is the Firestarter, made with Fireball. They also offer various fruity mules and a Smirnoff Featured Mule, which uses the current featured Smirnoff flavored vodka.

The Copper Cup is home to a small, cozy environment with live music on some Friday nights and a private area in the basement with big screen TVs.

The friendly new bar just opened up in June, but its unique mule-themed menu, home-like atmosphere and specials have made it an immediate hit with the Des Moines nightlife scene. CV