It’s rare in this day and age to hear someone order a Black Russian at the bar. As a matter of fact, we reckon you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone (excluding bartenders, of course) who knows exactly what the cocktail even is. So, let us shed some light on this outrageously niche and deliciously simple cocktail, starting with where and when it was made.
Despite its Soviet-sounding name, the Black Russian was actually first made in Brussels for US ambassador and socialite Perle Mesta. Gustave Tops, a bartender at the city’s Hotel Metropole, was the genius behind the drink, mixing up what was soon to become the ambassador’s signature cocktail.
Perle Mesta is rumoured to have gone on to serve this delectable two-ingredient creation at many of her famous soirees, to even more famous attendees such as Dwight Eisenhower and Harry Truman. What a cracking guest list.
Unfortunately, the Black Russian fell out of fashion once the White Russian became popular (a Black Russian with cream and/or milk). The final nail in the coffin? The Big Lebowski. This Coen brothers classic film forever immortalised the White Russian as the favourite drink of The Dude – AKA Jeff Bridges – an allure too strong for for the drinking world to ignore.
