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,
Manhattan (cocktail) to the cocktail for additional sweetness and color. Originally, bitters were considered an integral part of any cocktail, as the ingredient that differentiated a cocktail from a sling. Over time, those definitions of "cocktail" and "sling" have become archaic, as "sling" has fallen out of general use (other than in certain drink names), and "cocktail" can mean any drink that resembles a martini, or simply any mixed drink. The following are other variations on the classic Manhattan: Manhattan (cocktail) A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters. While rye is the traditional whiskey of choice, other