The Black Russian is a cocktail of vodka and coffee liqueur.

[1] The drink is made by pouring the vodka and coffee liqueur over ice cubes or cracked ice in an old-fashioned glass and stirring.

[2] The Black Russian is often garnished with a lemon slice and a Luxardo maraschino cherry on a stick.

[3] The Black Russian cocktail 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.

[4] The cocktail owes its name to the use of vodka, a typical Russian spirit, and the blackness of the coffee liqueur.