Short drinks · Vodka · IBA official
Dark as espresso and just as quick to make. Vodka keeps the coffee liqueur from getting syrupy, and plenty of cold ice turns the pair into a smooth, roasted sipper. No shaker, no garnish, no fuss.
1¾ oz
vodkae.g. Absolut · Smirnoff · Grey Goose · Ketel One · Belvedere
¾ oz
coffee liqueur such as Kahlúae.g. Kahlúa · Tia Maria · Mr Black · Borghetti
Garnish: No garnish · Ice: Ice cubes
Black Russian
Roasted coffee and vanilla sweetness with a clean, warming vodka backbone. Strong and smooth, with no acidity.
Despite the name, the Black Russian was born in Belgium. The widely told account credits Gustave Tops, bartender at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels, who is said to have created it in 1949 for Perle Mesta, then the United States ambassador to Luxembourg. The name simply nodded to the vodka and to the dark colour, at a time when the Cold War made anything Russian sound intriguing.
The drink spread with the post-war rise of vodka and of Kahlúa in the United States. Adding cream later gave the White Russian, which became even more famous. The International Bartenders Association lists the Black Russian among its Contemporary Classics.
No. The usual story places its creation in 1949 at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels, Belgium.
50 ml vodka and 20 ml coffee liqueur, poured over ice in an old-fashioned glass and stirred.
A White Russian adds cream, which makes it softer, sweeter and more like a dessert.
The perfect sound
Dark, mysterious and quietly dangerous.
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