We may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

The Black Russian drink supposedly first appeared in Brussels in 1949. It’s a wonderfully simple cocktail, but you wouldn’t know that from the flavor.

This drink doesn’t really have anything to do with Russia, other than the fact that it contains vodka. The main flavor in this drink is simply the Kahlua.

Easy to Make

The Black Russian is incredibly easy to make. You just pour in the ingredients and stir.

There’s no shaking. You don’t even need to add a garnish. The hardest part is putting in the ice cubes.

And that’s part of the appeal of this drink, actually. There are actually two ways to make it – one very easy, and the other extremely easy.

In one version, the bartender stirs it before serving. In the other, you just pour the ingredients together and let the guest stir if they want.

The only way it could get any easier is if it came in a can.

The taste of the Black Russian

Kahlua tastes like sweetened coffee. The vodka doesn’t add much flavor on its own, so the drink basically tastes like sweetened coffee.

You can tweak the ingredients ratio here to make the drink sweeter by adding more Kahlua. Or you could make it both stronger and dryer by using more vodka.

The White Russian came along sometime later, and featured cream added to the vodka and kahlua. You might expect the two drinks to have similar flavors.

But the Black Russian has a more bitter flavor. It’s more deep, dark and mysterious. Intense and serious.

The History of the Black Russian

This cocktail dates back to 1949 and Brussels. A bartender named Gustave Tops is said to have created it at the Hotel Metropole.

He created it in honor of Perle Mesta, the US Ambassador to Luxembourg at the time. The name of the drink comes from the vodka being a Russian spirit and the color of the drink being black.

It’s been a popular and well-known drink in the US since at least the 1960s. Every bartender knows how to make it, and most drinkers will try it sooner or later.

This is already a fairly strong cocktail. Both ingredients have alcohol in them (although the Kahlua is much lower proof than the vodka, of course), so the only mixer is the ice cubes.

Speaking of ice cubes, you might have the impression that they water down cocktails and make them icky. And sometimes that’s true.

But in this drink, it works well because the drink is strong to begin with. It can take some watering down without losing too much flavor or strength.

And that makes this a good drink for a hot day. It’s also great to serve at a barbecue because it’s light enough to pair well with those heavy foods.

You can mix a big batch of this cocktail in advance and let guests serve themselves. Or you can just let guests pour their own.

You can tinker to your heart’s content with this recipe. You could try making your own homemade coffee liqueur.

Or you could try this drink with a flavored vodka. Vanilla is wonderful. But fruity vodkas, while totally changing the flavor profile, can add a surprisingly nice flavor.

While technically it wouldn’t be the same drink, you could also add a scoop of coffee flavored ice cream into this drink.

This drink tastes enough like sweetened coffee that you can just assume any food that goes well with sweetened coffee will go well with a Black Russian.

Enjoy the post? Why not share it?