Black Russian and White Russian – composition, recipe, history

The Black Russian is a very simple cocktail with just two simple ingredients: vodka and coffee liqueur. Here you can’t even say that this simplicity is deceptive. Where is it easier? But the cocktail is considered a classic, it has been known and loved all over the world since the middle of the last century. Only this should awaken in you the desire to learn how to cook it and further improve it!

The history of this creation does not even need to be considered under a microscope – and so it is clear that it is not the hands of domestic workers. If you believe authoritative sources, Dale DeGroff (famous historian and mixologist) in the first place, and not Wikipedia, where it would be better not to write anything about cocktails, “Russian” was invented in Belgium. The author of the cocktail is Gustave Tops, a Belgian bartender who works at the Metropol Hotel in Brussels. It happened in 1949, just at the height of the Cold War, so the name is fully justified.

But the first mention of him dates back to 1939 – then the Black Russian was seen in the film Ninotchka with Gretta Garbo in the title role. Does this contradict history? Maybe, but this does not contradict the essence of the drink – at least Kalua liqueur was already being produced at that time and had to get to Hollywood. By the way, “Russian” is the first cocktail in which coffee liqueur was used. So let’s move on.

Cocktail recipe Black Russian

These proportions and composition are taken from the official website of the International Bartenders Association, which means that every bartender can use them. However, they are not the ultimate truth and you can safely experiment, not only with the amount of main ingredients, but also with the ingredients themselves. The Black Russian is served in an old-fashioned glass, named after the famous and perhaps the very first Old Fashioned cocktail. It is also called “rox” or tumbler.

As you can see, the recipe is extremely simple, but genius lies in simplicity. Black Russian is quite strong, so it is referred to as a digestif – to drink after a meal. Absolutely anyone can be used as a coffee liqueur, for example, Tia Maria or Giffard Café, but it is still better to use Kalua, which allows you to achieve an optimal and balanced taste (by the way, you can make coffee liqueur yourself – here is the recipe). You can achieve great results if you replace vodka with good Scotch whiskey – this is how you get a Black Watch cocktail.

Black Russian cocktail variations:

• “Tall Black Russian” (Tall Black Russian) – the same composition, only a highball (tall glass) is used as a serving dish, and the remaining space is filled with cola;
• “Brown Russian” (Brown Russian) – also prepared in highball, but filled with ginger ale;
• “Irish Russian” (Irish Russian) or “Soft Black Russian” (Smooth Black Russian) – topped up with Guinness beer.
• “Black magic” (Black Magic) – Black Russian with a few drops (1 dash) of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

The White Russian cocktail is plebeian but iconic. He became famous thanks to the famous film “The Big Lebowski” by the Coen brothers, where Jeffrey “The Dude” (the main character of the film) constantly mixes it, and subsequently uses it. For the first time, White Russian was mentioned in printed publications on November 21, 1965, and at the same time it became the official cocktail of the IBA. Now you will not see him there, he has a reputation as a variation of the Black Russian.

Cocktail recipe White Russian

This cocktail also has several modifications:

• “White Cuban” (White Cuban) – quite logical, instead of vodka rum;
• “White Trash” (White Trash) – we replace vodka with noble whiskey, our law enforcement agencies would not like the name :);
• “Dirty Russian” (Dirty Russian) – chocolate syrup instead of cream;
• “Bolshevik” or “Russian blond” (Bolshevik) – Baileys liqueur instead of cream.

Here it is, the generation of Russians in the annals of the IBA…