White Russian

Made with vodka, coffee liqueur, and cream, the White Russian is a cocktail typically served in an Old-Fashioned glass. The proportions of the ingredients do vary from recipe to recipe, as there is no one fixed recipe. Some call for equal parts of all three, as is the case of the first known recipe for the cocktail, while others variate the proportions, typically vodka making up the biggest portion of the drink. The brands of coffee liqueur that are most commonly used are Kahlúa and Tia Maria, although most cocktail buffs prefer to make their own liqueur. Also, even though cream is the typical ingredient, half and half and milk are often used instead. The usual way of making this cocktail is to first, fill a glass with ice, then add the vodka and the coffee liqueur and mix them with a spoon. The cream is then floated over ice, and the drink is gently stirred, so the black and white layer remain somewhat separate. Alternatively, the cream is shaken so it stiffens a bit before it's poured into a cocktail, while vodka and the coffee liqueur can be shaken in a shaker before they are poured into a glass. Some recipes call for the three ingredients to be first mixed in a shaker and then double strained into an ice-filled glass.

Unlike in the case of its progenitor the Black Russian, a coffee liqueur and vodka cocktail which was invented in 1949 by a Belgian Gustave Trope, the exact creator or the date when the White Russian was invented is still unknown. What is known though is that the first time the White Russian, including the recipe for one, appeared in print was in a 1965 ad for a now defunct Southern Comfort coffee liqueur. However, the reason that both the White and the Black Russian were named as such is because of the primary ingredient, vodka, which at the time was considered primarily as a Russian brand. During the disco era of the 1970s, the White Russian had steady popularity, which plummeted in the 1980s, but thanks to The Big Lebowski, a 1998 film by the Cohen brothers the cocktail gained a cult following. The main character in the movie, Jeff, "The Dude" Lebowski, cares only for bowling and drinking White Russians, which he calls "Caucasians" and for the duration of the movie drinks seven of them.

2 oz vodka (60 mL)
1 oz Kahlúa or Tia Maria (30 mL)
1 oz cream, half and half or whole milk (30 mL)
marachino cocktail cherry

Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice, then add the vodka and the coffee liqueur, and stir.

Slowly pour milk on the back of a spoon so that the milk floats over the Black Russian making a White Russian.

Makes 1 cocktail.