Black Russian
A Black Russian takes 50ml of vodka and 20ml of coffee liqueur, stirred in a rocks glass over a single large cube for 15 to 20 seconds and served without a garnish. The measures are the IBA’s. About 2.4 UK units. It is ascribed to Gustave Tops, a Belgian barman, who created it in 1949 at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels in honour of Perle Mesta, then the United States ambassador to Luxembourg. Its name joins the vodka to the dark colour of the coffee liqueur. At five parts vodka to two of liqueur, the coffee seasons the drink rather than sweetening it. Float cream on top and it becomes a White Russian.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: None
Ingredients
50ml
Any neutral vodka at 40% ABV. Its neutrality lets the roast and sugar of the liqueur read clearly; whisky or rum would compete with them.
20ml
Kahlúa and Tia Maria are the familiar names, at about 16% to 25% ABV. It is made with coffee, so expect a little caffeine. At 20ml it seasons rather than sweetens.
Instructions
Place one large ice cube in a rocks glass.
Add the vodka and coffee liqueur.
Stir for 15 to 20 seconds, until cold.
Serve without a garnish.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification; stirred over one large cube; method ours). Last checked 9 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Keep the ratio. At 50ml to 20ml the coffee liqueur seasons a cold, dry drink. Every step towards equal parts makes it sweeter, and at one to one it drinks like a liqueur on ice. Coffee liqueurs vary. They run from about 16% to 25% ABV and differ in sweetness, so try yours neat first; with a sweeter bottle, pull the liqueur back slightly rather than adding vodka. Stir over one large cube for 15 to 20 seconds. That chills the drink and adds a little water, and the large cube then holds the temperature through a slow glass without watering it down.
Behind the Black Russian
Flavour Profile
The Origin
The Black Russian is ascribed to Gustave Tops, a Belgian barman, who created it in 1949 at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels in honour of Perle Mesta, then the United States ambassador to Luxembourg. The name pairs the vodka with the black of the coffee liqueur.
The Ratio
The IBA’s 50ml to 20ml is the balanced reading: the coffee liqueur seasons and the vodka keeps the glass dry. Equal parts is much sweeter. Three to one tastes mostly of cold vodka with coffee behind it.
The bottle matters almost as much as the ratio. Coffee liqueurs run from about 16% to 25% ABV and differ in sweetness, and switching brands without tasting is how most cloying Black Russians happen.
Why Vodka
Coffee liqueur is loud: roast, sugar, vanilla and plenty of body. Vodka adds strength and cold and nothing else, so the coffee reads clearly against a clean background.
Whisky makes a good drink, but another one, where the barrel and the coffee compete for the same ground. Rum puts sugar on sugar.
The Family
Vodka and coffee in three drinks
Black Russian
- Vodka
- 50ml
- Coffee
- 20ml coffee liqueur
- Other
- None
- Method
- Stirred over ice
White Russian
- Vodka
- 50ml
- Coffee
- 25ml coffee liqueur
- Other
- 30ml cream
- Method
- Built, cream floated on top
Espresso Martini
- Vodka
- 50ml
- Coffee
- 30ml coffee liqueur and a fresh espresso
- Other
- 10ml syrup
- Method
- Shaken hard, served up
| Drink | Vodka | Coffee | Other | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Russian | 50ml | 20ml coffee liqueur | None | Stirred over ice |
| White Russian | 50ml | 25ml coffee liqueur | 30ml cream | Built, cream floated on top |
| Espresso Martini | 50ml | 30ml coffee liqueur and a fresh espresso | 10ml syrup | Shaken hard, served up |
Float cream on top and it becomes the White Russian; add fresh espresso and shake it, and you are close to an Espresso Martini.
How to Serve It
Over one large cube in a rocks glass, stirred and served without a garnish. It belongs at the end of an evening, after dinner, drunk slowly.
Make it at home
The Spirit
VodkaVodka is spirit made from a farmed crop, usually grain or potatoes, distilled and refined so that the taste of that crop is deliberately reduced. Its legal minimum is 37.5% ABV, most bottles are 40%, and it may not be given a predominant flavour, which separates it from flavoured vodka and from gin. In a mixed drink it adds strength and body while the other ingredients carry the taste.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the correct Black Russian ratio?
Why is it called a Black Russian?
Black Russian or Espresso Martini?
What is the difference between a Black and a White Russian?
How strong is a Black Russian?
Does a Black Russian contain caffeine?
Shaken or stirred?
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White Russian
A White Russian is 50ml vodka and 25ml coffee liqueur stirred over one large cube in a rocks glass for 15 to 20 seconds, then 30ml of fresh single cream poured gently onto the surface from a spoon. Nothing else garnishes it: the cream marbling down through the dark liquid is the finish. About 2.5 UK units. It is the Black Russian with cream. The IBA lists it only as a note to that drink, which is 50ml vodka and 20ml coffee liqueur: float fresh cream on top and stir it in slowly. Our extra 5ml of liqueur holds the coffee against the cream. The earliest known printed mention, cited by the Oxford English Dictionary, is in the Oakland Tribune on 21 November 1965. The Big Lebowski, released in 1998, gave the drink a second life. Its hero, the Dude, drinks White Russians through most of the film.
Espresso Martini
An Espresso Martini is 50ml of vodka, 30ml of Kahlúa, 10ml of sugar syrup and one freshly pulled espresso of about 30ml, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled martini glass, with three coffee beans laid on the foam. About 2.5 UK units, and the caffeine of a single shot. Dick Bradsell is usually credited with it, at the Soho Brasserie in London around 1983. His account was of a model who asked for a drink to wake her up and then mess her up; he never said who she was. The measures are the IBA’s. Vodka gives strength and cold without flavour, so the coffee leads. The foam comes from the crema of a shot pulled moments before the shake, which is why the espresso goes in last.
Rusty Nail
A Rusty Nail is 45ml Scotch whisky and 25ml Drambuie, stirred for 15 to 20 seconds over one large ice cube in a rocks glass and finished with a lemon twist, expressed and dropped in. About 2.8 UK units. The IBA gives the same measures, a little under two parts whisky to one of liqueur. Drambuie is itself Scotch whisky, sweetened with heather honey and flavoured with herbs and spices, so the drink pairs a spirit with a sweeter version of itself. The pairing first appears in 1937 as the B.I.F., named after the British Industries Fair, and went through several names before Rusty Nail stuck in early-1960s New York. The ratio is the whole recipe. More Drambuie makes a honeyed after-dinner drink; more whisky makes it drier and leaves the honey as an accent.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026