Cooking Lesson #408: Black, White & In Between Russian Cocktails

…from the California Happy Hour Bar

How you doin’? It’s cocktail time again! If you live in Moscow, it could have been Happy Hour 12-hours earlier, but what the heck… we’re lucky enough to live in the good old USA where it’s always five o’clock somewhere.
 
There are a number of drinks that are called “Russians,” however none of them were created there. The traditional cocktail known as a Black Russian, which first appeared in 1949, becomes a White Russian with the addition of cream. While neither drink has any known Russian origin, both are so named because vodka is the primary ingredient. It is unclear which drink preceded the other.
 
 White Russian

 The Oxford English Dictionary refers to the first mention of the phrase "White Russian" in the sense of a cocktail as appearing in California's Oakland Tribune on November 21, 1965. It was included in the newspaper as an insert with a cryptic recipe.
 
The White Russian saw a surge in popularity after the 1998 release of the film The Big Lebowski. Throughout the movie, it appears as the beverage of choice for the protagonist, Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski. On a number of occasions he refers to the drink as a "Caucasian.” A White Russian is a cocktail made with 5 parts vodka, 2 parts coffee liqueur and 3 parts fresh cream served over ice in an old fashioned glass.
 
Ingredients 
2/3-ounce coffee liqueur (I prefer Kahlua)
1-2/3 ounces vodka (you don’t need the expensive stuff)
1-ounce fresh cream
Coffee beans for garnish
 
Directions

1. Pour the coffee liqueur and vodka into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice.
2. Float the fresh cream on top and stir slowly. Garnish with coffee beans.

Black Russian
The Black Russian is a cocktail made with vodka and coffee liqueur. Traditionally, the drink is made by pouring the vodka over ice cubes or cracked ice in an old-fashioned glass, followed by the coffee liqueur. There is no cream in this cocktail.
 
Ingredients
1-2/3 ounces vodka (the cheap stuff is okay)
2/3-ounce Coffee liqueur
 
Directions

1. Pour the ingredients into an old fashioned glass filled with ice cubes.
2. Stir gently.

 
Guinness Black Russian
(The Irish Spy)
 
I’m a Guinness Stout guy. I like my brews dark, bitter and chewy. I’m amazed at how Guinness continues to experiment and innovate in true pioneering style. Guinness remains one of the world's most iconic brewed beers pushing brewing boundaries since 1759. Try this innovation… take a Russian and mix it with a little Irish.
 
Ingredients 
1-ounce vodka
1-ounce brewed strong coffee, chilled, or coffee liqueur
2-ounces cola
2-ounces Guinness beer
 
Directions

1. Pour vodka, coffee or coffee liqueur and cola into an ice-filled 8-oz. cocktail glass.
2. Top with Guinness.

 
ChefSecret:  There are many variants to the Russian category of cocktails.

• The Blind Russian (also known as a Muddy Water) which substitutes cream with Bailey’s Irish Cream
• The Mudslide (a Blind Russian with both)
• The Anna Kournikova (named after the tennis player), made with skim milk (i.e. a "skinny" White Russian)
• The Russian Cherry Orchard made with the addition of Grand Marnier (named for the play by Anton Chekhov)
• The White Cuban (made with rum instead of vodka)
• The Dirty Russian (made with chocolate camel's milk instead of cream—you can use Yoo-hoo if you wish)
• The Colorado Bulldog is very similar to the White Russian, using all traditional ingredients, but adding a splash of cola.

Quip of the Day: “A Russian proverb--'No long break between the first and second shots.’”
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