Black Russian
50 ml Vodka, 20 ml Coffee liqueur
Photo: Bloody Mary Coctail with celery stalk - Evan Swigart by Evan Swigart from Chicago, USA · CC BY 2.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 300 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 300 ml line. Vodka
- 720 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 720 ml line. Tomato juice
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Lemon juice
- 18 dashes Bottle Eighteen quick shakes of the bottle - each a few drops, about a millilitre. Worcestershire sauce
- 12 dashes Bottle Twelve quick shakes of the bottle - each a few drops, about a millilitre. Tabasco
- 6 pinches Celery salt
- 6 pinches Black pepper
- 6 sticks Celery stick (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Roll everything between two tins with ice.
- Pour into a highball and add a celery stick.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 1.11 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Add all of the ingredients except the garnish to a shaker.
- Roll the drink - pour it back and forth between two tins - rather than shaking it.
- Strain into a highball glass over fresh ice.
- Add the celery stick, and a pinch more celery salt over the top.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Bloody Mary
The only cocktail that happily doubles as breakfast, and the only one where strong opinions about hot sauce are entirely reasonable. Born in Paris in the 1920s and polished in New York hotel bars ever since, it is really a very good soup with vodka in it - which is exactly why it works on a slow Sunday morning.
Getting it right
Roll it rather than shake it: pouring the drink back and forth between two tins, or stirring it hard, keeps the tomato silky, where a shaker whips air into it and leaves you with foam and a pink moustache. Taste before you pour, too. Tomato juice varies wildly from carton to carton, so adjust the lemon and the heat to the glass in front of you, and be braver with salt and black pepper than you think you should be. A stick of celery is traditional; a pickled thing is better.
Tasting notes
Deep, savoury and peppery, with a clean citrus lift and a long warm finish. Serve it cold, eat the garnish, and treat the rest of the morning as optional.
More Vodka cocktails
Cosmopolitan
40 ml Vodka, 20 ml Triple sec, 30 ml Cranberry juice, 15 ml Lime juice, 1 Orange slice
Espresso Martini
40 ml Vodka, 20 ml Coffee liqueur, 30 ml Espresso, 10 ml Simple syrup, 3 Coffee beans