White Russian

We often make this drink with evaporated milk instead - it's lighter and it won't make lumps like heavy cream does when it gets cold.

30ml of vodka (1 oz) will make this cocktail very easy to drink. 60ml (2 oz) will make a boozier drink. Base the amount you add on what you feel like at the moment!

Consider adding some orange zest as it will play nicely with the chocolate flavors from the Kahlúa. Alternatively, add a very small amount of Licor 43 to throw vanilla notes into the mix.

You can use other types of coffee liqueur, but do note that Kahlúa is fairly sweet, so you may need to add a small amount of simple syrup to compensate.

Try it with Mr. Black instead of Kahlúa and add half an ounce (15ml) of SC's Mai Tai Rich Simple Syrup.

The White Russian was created sometime in the 1960s, when cream was added to its predecessor: The Black Russian.

“Russian” is simply a nod to the fact that this drink contains vodka.

The 1961 edition of the “Diner’s Club Drink Book” is the oldest publication where a White Russian is found. It is a footnote on the Black Russian recipe, which mentions that adding cream creates a variation known as the White Russian.

The White Russian rose dramatically in popularity after the 1998 movie The Big Lebowski. It is the favorite drink of the protagonist, where he often refers to the drink as a “Caucasian”.

An “Anna Kournikova” (the tennis player) is a White Russian made with skimmed milk. A Blonde Russian uses Irish cream instead of the coffee liqueur.

There’s an older drink from the 1930s called “The Russian”, which is made with equal parts gin, vodka and crème de cacao, which also had a variation which added cream.