Black Russian Black Russian The Black Russian is a cocktail of vodka and coffee liqueur. It contains five parts vodka to two parts coffee liqueur, per IBA specified ingredients. Traditionally, the drink is made by pouring the vodka over ice cubes or cracked ice in an old-fashioned glass, followed by the coffee liqueur. This combination first appeared in 1949 and is ascribed to Gustave Tops, a Belgian barman, who created it at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels in honor of Perle Mesta, then United States Ambassador to Luxembourg. The cocktail owes its name to the use of vodka, a typical Russian spirit,
Cafe Royal Cocktail Book Cafe Royal Cocktail Book The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book is a collection of cocktail recipes compiled by William J. Tarling, published by the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild in 1937. It contains a number of pioneering recipes, including the 20th Century and what later became the Margarita. The book focuses on cocktails developed in the 1920s and 1930s as well as those already approved, developed and used by members of the Bartender's Guild. It also contains some of the earliest known recipes for a range of cocktails. Fewer than 25 copies were originally published by the guild. Tarling compiled the book