Name: Black Russian
Total time: 2 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Vodka; 22.5 ml Coffee liqueur

Ingredients

2 fl oz

Ketel One Vodka

3/4 fl oz

Galliano Espresso Coffee liqueur

How to make

Glass

Prepare

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.

Prepare garnish of skewered lemon slice wheel and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry sail. (Skewer through either side of lemon with cherry skewered in the centre.)

Method

STIR all ingredients with ice.

STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Garnish

Garnish with skewered lemon slice wheel and maraschino cherry (sail).

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Black Russian contains 204 calories

Alcohol content:

1.7 standard drinks
29.35% alc./vol. (58.7° proof)
24.3 grams of pure alcohol

History

Created in 1949 by Gustave Tops, a bartender at Metropolitan Hotel in Brussels, for Perle Skirvin Mesta, the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg (1949-1953). She was a rich American socialite famous for her lavish parties, and as well as the cocktail, Perle was the inspiration for Irving Berlin's Broadway musical Call Me Madam and she appeared on the cover of TIME magazine in March 1949. She was the original "Hostess with the Mostess."

Comments & Discussion

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Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 2y

Many thanks, Joe. I'll be sure to add a Brave Bull (with tequila and coffee liqueur) and also a Brave Cow (with gin and coffee liqueur).

Joe Cornwall 2y

This classic was quite popular in the 1970's and 80's. I recall mixing quite a few of them. White Russians, too. Something that's missing here is mention of this drinks more interesting cousin, the Brave Bull. Substitute a quality blanco tequila for vodka and you'll have a better cocktail by far.

Maho Lomez 3y

I don't dislike it with Kahlúa, but I also prefer this with a less sweet, higher end coffee liqueur, for a more pronounced coffee flavour.

Lorenz Kock 4y

I once loved this but I switched from a pretty good coffee liqueur to Kahlua and it ruined evrything. I can´t stand Kahlua

Jo Smeets 6y

Gustave Tops was barman in the bar of the Metropolitan Hotel in Brussels... a very prestigeous and splendid hotel, owned privately and not by a international hotel-chain... sadly it had to close its doors last week due to the Corona-crisis... a very great loss... look at my Pinterest-page on the Hotel Métropole...