White Russian Cocktail

White Russian Cocktail Story

The history of the White Russian is like that of an Eastern Bloc state: one name change after another. The mix of vodka, cream, and coffee liqueur went through several iterations from the 1950s to 1960s, gaining an ingredient here, losing one there, until arriving at the drink destined to be immortalized in the Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski. The drink’s predecessors trace back to the 1930s, a time when vodka cocktails were a rarity. The Savoy Cocktail Book calls a mix of gin, vodka, and crème de cacao a Russian and a vodka Brandy Alexander a Barbara. This drink was later known as a Russian Bear, inching closer in association to the White Russian. The 1940s saw the introduction of Kahlúa to the US Market, a coffee liqueur which quickly replaced crème de cacao, leading to the invention of drinks like the Black Russian. The growing appeal of the Black Russian, created in Brussels in 1949, rendered those old Savoy cocktails obsolete. The White Russian, appearing in the 1960s, is the enduring legacy of all of those unfussy cocktails. With easily available ingredients and a recipe that can be built in a glass, its appeal is broad, prepared by suburban dinner party hosts and abiding dudes in robes alike.