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White Russian Cocktail Recipe

Name: White Russian Cocktail Recipe
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 cocktail
Cuisine: Russian
Ingredients: 2 ounces vodka; 1 ounce coffee liqueur of choice; ½ ounce heavy cream (you can also substitute whole milk or half-and-half if you prefer. To make it vegan, use coconut milk.)

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Dec 2, 2024 • 1 min read

A White Russian, while decidedly not Russian in origin, does pay homage to the favored spirit of that country: Vodka. White Russians are incredibly easy to make and even easier to sip—the added sweetness and warm coffee flavor from a liqueur (most commonly, Kahlúa) and heavy cream, served over ice in a rocks glass, makes the White Russian one of the milder cocktail recipes out there.

Most accounts peg its official invention of the White Russian somewhere around the 1960s, as a creamier variation on what was known as a Black Russian: A simple blend of vodka and coffee liqueur. A Blind Russian is a White Russian with Irish cream instead of coffee liqueur, while a Mudslide cocktail doubles down on the dairy.

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Classic White Russian Recipe

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makes

1 cocktail

prep time

3 min

total time

3 min

Ingredients

2 ounces vodka
1 ounce coffee liqueur of choice
½ ounce heavy cream (you can also substitute whole milk or half-and-half if you prefer. To make it vegan, use coconut milk.)

1
Combine the vodka and coffee liqueur over ice cubes in an old fashioned glass, and stir to combine.
2
Shake the heavy cream vigorously, then pour it over the top. Stir, and serve.

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