A white Russian is a
cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...
made with
vodka
Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...
,
coffee liqueur
Liqueurs are alcoholic beverages that are bottled with added sugar and have added flavours that are usually derived from fruits, herbs, or nuts. Liqueurs are distinct from eaux-de-vie, fruit brandy, and flavored liquors, which contain no adde ...
(e.g.,
Kahlúa
Kahlúa () is a brand of coffee liqueur owned by the Pernod Ricard company and produced in Veracruz, Mexico. The drink contains rum, sugar, and arabica coffee.
History
Pedro Domecq began producing Kahlúa in 1936. It was named Kahlúa, meanin ...
or
Tia Maria
Tia Maria is a dark coffee liqueur made originally in Jamaica using Jamaican coffee beans, but now made in Italy. The main ingredients are coffee beans, Jamaican rum, vanilla, and sugar, blended to an alcoholic content of 20%.
History
The hi ...
) and
cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
served with ice in an
old fashioned glass
The old fashioned glass, otherwise known as the rocks glass and lowball glass (or simply lowball), is a short tumbler used for serving spirits, such as whisky, neat or with ice cubes ("on the rocks"). It is also normally used to serve certain ...
.
History
The traditional cocktail known as a
black Russian, which first appeared in 1949, becomes a white Russian with the addition of cream. Neither drink has any known Russian origin, but both are so-named due to vodka being the primary ingredient. It is unclear which drink preceded the other.
The ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
'' refers to the first mention of ''white Russian'' in the sense of a cocktail as appearing in California's ''
Oakland Tribune
The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group.
Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...
'' on November 21, 1965. It was placed in the newspaper as an insert: "White Russian. 1 oz. each Southern, vodka, cream", with "Southern" referring to Coffee Southern, a short-lived brand of coffee liqueur by
Southern Comfort
Southern Comfort (often abbreviated SoCo) is an American, naturally fruit-flavored, whiskey liqueur with fruit and spice accents. The brand was created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans in 1874, using whiskey as the base spirit. W ...
.
The white Russian saw a surge in popularity after the 1998 release of the film ''
The Big Lebowski
''The Big Lebowski'' () is a 1998 crime comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted as a result of mistaken i ...
''. 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".
Preparation
As with all cocktails, various modes of preparation exist, varying according to the recipes and styles of particular bars or
mixologist
A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but ...
s. Most common varieties have adjusted amounts of vodka or coffee liqueur, or mixed brands of coffee liqueur. Shaking the cream in order to thicken it prior to pouring it over the drink is also common. Sometimes the drink is prepared on the stove with hot coffee for a warm treat on cold days. Conversely, vanilla
ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...
has been known to be used, rather than cream, to make it
frozen.
Variations
Many variants of the cocktail exist, both localized and widely known, such as a blind Russian (also known as a muddy water) which substitutes cream with
Irish cream, a mudslide (a blind Russian with both), an
Anna Kournikova
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova ( rus, Анна Сергеевна Курникова, p=ˈanːə sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvnə ˈkurnʲɪkəvə, a=Anna_kournikova.ogg; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player and American televisio ...
(named after the
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player), made with
skimmed milk
Skimmed milk (British English), or skim milk (American English), is made when all the milkfat is removed from whole milk. It tends to contain around 0.1% fat.
Background
Historically, skimmed milk was used for fattening pigs, and was recommended ...
(i.e. a "skinny" white Russian), a Russian cherry orchard made with the addition of
Grand Marnier
Grand Marnier () is a French brand of liqueurs. The brand's best-known product is Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge, an orange-flavored liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. It is made from a blend of Cognac brandy, distilled esse ...
(named for the play by
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
), a white Cuban (made with
rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...
instead of vodka), or a dirty Russian (made with
chocolate milk
Chocolate milk is a type of flavoured milk made by mixing cocoa solids with milk (either dairy or plant-based). It is a food pairing in which the milk's mouthfeel masks the dietary fibres of the cocoa solids.
Types
The liquid carbohydrate ...
instead of cream).
A Colorado bulldog is very similar to the white Russian, using all traditional ingredients, but adding a splash of cola.
See also
*
List of cocktails
A cocktail is a mixed drink typically made with a distilled liquor (such as arrack, brandy, cachaça, gin, rum, tequila, vodka, or whiskey) as its base ingredient that is then mixed with other ingredients or garnishments. Sweetened liqueurs, w ...
*
List of coffee beverages
Coffee drinks are made by brewing water with ground coffee beans. The brewing is either done slowly by drip, filter, French press, ''cafetière'' or percolator, or done very quickly under pressure by an espresso machine. When put under the pr ...
References
External links
{{Coffee, nocat=1
Cocktails with vodka
Cocktails with coffee liqueur
Coffee culture
Alcoholic coffee drinks
Cocktails with milk
Creamy cocktails
Cocktails with ice cream