White Russian: the Big Lebowski cocktail recipe to make it without mistakes

The White Russian is a cocktail based on vodka, coffee liqueur and milk cream, a variant of the Black Russian with a high alcohol content (about 20%), but more delicate and sweet. This drink is best served as a dessert and is much loved by the Dude from the movie The Big Lebowski. It is a cocktail to be enjoyed neat in winter, to fully enjoy its soft flavor, and with ice in summer, to be served in an old fashioned glass with a short straw. For the preparation, use dry vodka and Kahlua among the coffee liqueurs. Here's how to prepare this delicious drink without mistakes.

How to make White Russian

Pour the ingredients directly into an old fashioned glass with ice. Use the shaker only to shake the cream a little before pouring it.

Pour the vodka, the coffee liqueur into the glass and mix with the bar spoon or a long teaspoon.

Add the milk cream by letting it run on the back of the bar spoon, keeping it well attached to the wall of the glass, in order to create a well-defined layer.

Once the preparation is finished, the White Russian should not be mixed, as the coffee liqueur must remain on the bottom to create the separation with the white of the cream.

Simply serve it with a short straw to sip it slowly. Enjoy!

Tips

Instead of milk cream you can use liquid cream to shake just before pouring it. Alternatively, also milk or a mixture of milk and cream divided into equal parts will work well.

It is important to shake the milk cream or cream, for about 10 seconds with a couple of ice cubes, to give it more consistency.

Decorations are not usually used for White Russian but, if you prefer, you can garnish it with a cherry to make it more colorful and eye-catching.

In winter you can enjoy the White Russian without ice and add 1 cup of espresso coffee.

White Russian Cocktail Origins

The White Russian is a short drink created in the late 1940s by a bartender from the Brussels Metropole, Gustave Tofs, in honor of the Luxembourg ambassador Perle Mesta. It was born as a variant of the Black Russian even if in Russia it is considered a cocktail for tourists, who often don't feel like drinking pure vodka, as local tradition suggests. Its name refers to the groups that opposed the October Revolution of 1917, a group of pro-tsarists who fought against the Red Communists. We find White Russian also in a movie, in fact it is the favorite drink of the Dude, the main character of the film The Big Lebowski played by Jeff Bridges, and also of Halle Barry in Catwoman.