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,
The Museum of the American Cocktail The Museum of the American Cocktail The Museum of the American Cocktail, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to education in mixology and preserving the rich history of the cocktail as developed in the United States. Among its events are tastings in association with specific seminars or exhibits. It annually presents the American Cocktail Awards (the "Olives"), together with the United States Bartenders Guild. The Museum of the American Cocktail was founded in October 2004 by Dale and Jill DeGroff, Robert Hess, Philip Greene, Ted Haigh, Anistatia Miller, Jared Brown, Chris and Laura McMillian, and a