Creamy · Nightcap · Winter

Black Russian

Two things over ice: vodka, then coffee liqueur. Dark, faintly sweet, and finished in ten seconds.

Base: Vodka
Glass: Old fashioned glass
Method: Build
Strength: 29.35% ABV

Ingredients

50 mlVodka1 swap
Any neutral vodkahigh
Little change
20 mlCoffee Liqueur1 swap
Any coffee liqueurhigh
Little change

How to make

Technique

Build · 10–15s

Building straight in the glass keeps it simple and preserves any fizz.

Pour the ingredients into the old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes.
Stir gently. strain ingredients into old fashioned glass filled with ice.

Serve

Glass

Old fashioned glassAlso fine: Double old fashioned glass, Rocks glass, Tumbler

Garnish

None

Taste & nutrition

29.35%ABV

204kcal

1.81Drinks

StrengthBoozy

Sweet to dryOff-dry

Estimated from ingredient amounts and assumed ABVs — not a lab measurement.

Good to know

Chill your glass first for a colder, better-tasting drink.

History

Year1949

PlaceBrussels, Belgium

Created byGustave Tops

Gustave Tops mixed the first Black Russian in 1949 at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels, honouring American socialite and diplomat Perle Mesta. Just vodka and coffee liqueur over ice, its dark colour and Cold War-era vodka gave it the name. Add cream and it becomes the White Russian. Simple and after-dinner friendly, it has never really left the menu.

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