Black Russian
50 ml Vodka, 20 ml Coffee liqueur
Ingredients
- 50 ml Jigger The large side of a standard jigger, filled to the top: 50 ml, with 25 ml on the other side. Vodka
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Cranberry juice
- 40 ml Jigger One small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Grapefruit juice - Pink grapefruit is sweeter; the drink wants a little bitterness
- 10 ml Spoons Two teaspoons. Lime juice (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
- Build over ice, stir once, and add a wedge of grapefruit.
Method
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Pour in the vodka and both juices and stir for 10 seconds.
- Add the lime juice if you want it sharper, and a wedge of grapefruit on the rim.
Serve it
Sea Breeze
This started out in the 1930s as gin, grenadine and apricot brandy, which is a completely different drink, and only became the pink thing everybody knows when cranberry juice arrived in a big way in the 1960s. It is not a complicated cocktail and it has never pretended to be: it is a long, cold, fruity drink that is very good on a hot day and very easy to make for four people at once.
Getting it right
Buy unsweetened cranberry juice if you can find it - the sweetened sort turns this into a glass of sweets, and the drink needs the tart edge. Pink grapefruit keeps it soft; white grapefruit makes it bracing, which is better with a heavier pour of vodka. And stir it, do not shake: there is nothing to emulsify, and shaking just knocks the fizz out of nothing at all.
Tasting notes
Tart and clean, with cranberry leading and grapefruit drying the finish. It is bright, pink and undemanding, and there is a place in the world for exactly that.
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50 ml Vodka, 120 ml Tomato juice, 15 ml Lemon juice, 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce, 2 dashes Tabasco, 1 pinch Celery salt, 1 pinch Black pepper, 1 Celery stick
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40 ml Vodka, 20 ml Triple sec, 30 ml Cranberry juice, 15 ml Lime juice, 1 Orange slice