Coffee and alcohol: consequences of consumption

What is the name of

A coffee drink with the addition of strong alcohol was originally prepared in Norway, adding a little moonshine. The home-made Norwegian cocktail is known as Karsk, and the version with purified vodka has different names.

In American bars, it is known to a narrow circle of guests under the characteristic name “black Russian”, and in domestic establishments it can be found as “Russian coffee”. To soften the taste, cream is added to the fortified cocktail.

A drink with a simple set of ingredients can be prepared even by novice bartenders. Also, coffee with vodka, if consumed in moderation, will be an original end to the evening for a friendly company.

Why are tea and coffee combined with vodka?

The secret to the success of the interaction between alcohol and our usual harmless lunch drinks is this: they all have the ability to quickly and easily tone up. True, if taking “zero-proof” drinks does not raise objections among doctors, then the situation with vodka is more complicated.

The ability of the “green snake” to easily dilate and then constrict blood vessels can be dangerous for hypertensive and hypotensive patients. If there are no problems with blood pressure, you should from time to time allow yourself to use an accessible and simple way to tone yourself up.

More on the topic: How does vodka affect blood pressure?

Effect of use

The coffee-alcoholic drink invigorates, improves mood, raises tone and gives the body strength. It is served to lift the mood during a house party or mass celebration. And consumption after a stormy feast will relieve the symptoms of a hangover.

Connoisseurs of the invigorating drink define two main rules for its use:

• when chilled, it is suitable for hot weather to invigorate and restore strength;
• Hot coffee with vodka easily warms the body in case of obvious malaise or hypothermia.

It is important to remember that the cocktail recipe contains strong alcohol, so there are individual contraindications to its use. Even if there are no restrictions on intake, you should not abuse the drink; in large quantities, vodka can cause harm to health. And its two main components are considered stimulants, as they increase blood pressure.

Effect on the body

In general, if you drink a small amount of the drink, health harm can be avoided. Moreover, coffee with vodka can have a positive effect on the heart, dilate blood vessels, the drink helps cope with stress and fight depression.

Drinking large amounts of coffee with alcohol can have a negative effect on the body. This can lead to increased heart rate, increased blood pressure and extra strain on the heart. The drink also contributes to arrhythmia and tachycardia. Nervousness, anxiety, insomnia are some of the side effects of coffee with vodka.

Cooking features

The alcoholic coffee drink consists of a minimal set of ingredients, so it is easy to prepare at home. For best results, you must adhere to the basic cooking rules:

• To prevent the drink from turning out sour or having an unpleasant bitterness, it is better to add sugar or any other sweeteners to the composition.
• Espresso from a coffee machine is ideal as a base, as there is a high, strong crema on its surface. When brewing coffee in a Turk, you need to let the drink settle so as not to use grounds.
• For a variety of flavors, you can use flavored alcohol. It is better to take vodka with fruit additives and avoid pepper.
• In a chilled coffee drink, vodka is faintly perceived, but to avoid fusel impurities in the taste, it is better to add premium alcohol to the composition.
• Lemon slices or pieces of juicy lime will add a light refreshing sourness to the drink, and cream or condensed milk will make the taste softer and more pleasant. It is important not to add the milk and citrus components at the same time to prevent the milk proteins from curdling.
• Spices: grated ginger, vanilla, cardamom, cloves or cinnamon will add an oriental piquancy to your coffee. It is important not to overdo it so as not to overwhelm the rich coffee taste.

Vodka coffee recipes

Try making coffee with vodka at home: it’s not difficult at all, and with a minimum of ingredients you can make several cocktails at once. Here are some basic rules to help you navigate the principles of cooking and mixing:

• Always add a spoonful of sugar per serving unless other sweetening ingredients are available. Otherwise, you will have a very bitter and sour drink, and it will be difficult to drink. Sugar is stirred into hot coffee.
• Espresso from a coffee machine is better, as it creates foam. You can brew coffee in a Turkish coffee pot, but then let it sit so that the grounds settle and a minimal amount gets into the cup.
• The quality of vodka in a cocktail is not too noticeable, especially in an iced one, but you should still understand that you should take something from the middle price segment; the cheapest one may have an unpleasant aftertaste.
• You can use flavored vodka, it will be even more interesting. Pepper flavors are unlikely to be appropriate, but fruit flavors will work well.
• As an additive, you can use lemon or milk/cream, and even whipped cream, but not together so that the milk does not curdle.
• You can add piquancy and interest to the taste by using various “coffee spices” - vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves.

Basic recipe

• Double espresso – 60 ml;
• Vodka – 30 ml;
• Sugar – 1 teaspoon.

Almost like Karsk: stir sugar into espresso and pour vodka into a cup. Alternatively, you can pour vodka into a martini glass, carefully pour espresso on top, and place a coffee bean on top of the foam.

Coffee with vodka and milk

• 60 ml espresso;
• 30 ml vodka;
• 30 ml milk;
• A spoonful of sugar.

Making Russian Coffee: just add warmed milk to the basic recipe, you can even use cream. They will soften the alcoholic aroma and taste and make the cocktail softer. Dairy products will also add sweetness to the coffee, so it will be interesting. This way you can “reanimate” a drink that turned out to be too strong.

Homemade Baileys: coffee with vodka and condensed milk

• Coffee – 100 ml;
• Vodka – 40 ml;
• Cream – 40 ml;
• Condensed milk – 40 ml.

Combine condensed milk and cream, whisk lightly until the mixture is smooth. You can reheat if the ingredients are cold, but do not boil. Brew coffee, add vodka and cream mixture. You can mix alcohol with cream and condensed milk, cool it, and make iced coffee with ice.

Energy boost: coffee with vodka and cola

• Espresso or instant coffee stick;
• 30 ml vodka;
• 150 ml cola.

This is a cold drink, you can add ice, or just use cold cola and cold espresso. Or instant coffee. Just carefully mix all the ingredients in one glass. There is no need to add sugar, cola is already sweet. The mixture really strongly and quickly invigorates, tones, and stimulates. Perhaps not the best choice if intellectual work is required, but for physical energy it’s what you need!

Ice coffee with vodka

• Double shot of espresso;
• Sugar – 2 teaspoons, or syrup, 30 ml.
• Vodka – 50 ml.
• Ice.

Pour ice into a glass, stir sugar or syrup into hot espresso, and combine all ingredients together. Alternatively, you can add lemon or orange, cream or milk. If you add spices to your coffee when preparing it, the taste will be even more interesting.

With liqueur

• Coffee – 50 ml;
• Vodka – 50 ml;
• Liqueur – 50 ml.

A strong, interesting, multi-faceted cocktail in terms of taste, and, conveniently, you can easily vary the taste yourself, as you choose the liqueur. You can add any creamy or fruit liqueurs, chocolate, coffee, caramel - whatever you have and like. Experiment.

You can prepare almost any coffee-alcoholic cocktails on a vodka basis, for example, those that use whiskey, rum, cognac, replacing strong alcohol with vodka.

Classic recipe

Caffeine has an invigorating short-term effect during a hangover, after which a loss of energy sets in. In combination with vodka, a systematic dilation of blood vessels occurs and an improvement in well-being.

Need to:

• 2 tsp. without a slide of freshly ground coffee;
• 6 tsp. (30 ml) purified vodka;
• 1 tsp. with a pile of sugar;
• 100 ml filtered drinking water.

Recipe step by step:

1. Pour freshly ground coffee with purified water and brew in any convenient way: in a coffee maker, coffee machine, Turk or saucepan.
2. Remove the finished coffee from the heat, cool slightly for 2 minutes and pour in ice-cold vodka.
3. After a minute, pour warm coffee into cups, sweeten and adjust the amount of alcohol to taste.

The drink can be served in glass glasses, sprinkled with grated nuts or powdered sugar if desired.

With liqueur

Thick liqueur will add piquancy to the cocktail and soften the taste. The drink tastes better when chilled, so you should prepare purified crushed ice for it.

Required:

• 50 ml premium vodka;
• 5 tsp. (25 ml) sweet coffee liqueur;
• 75-100 ml of brewed natural coffee;
• 3 ice cubes.

Step by step recipe:

1. Pour vodka and coffee liqueur into a shaker.
2. Add 2-3 ice cubes and beat the ingredients until smooth.
3. The cocktail turns out very strong.
4. Dilute the alcoholic mixture with prepared chilled coffee in a ratio of at least 1:1 or more.

Pour the cocktail into glasses and add a little cream when serving if desired. They will soften the taste and give the drink a pleasant milk chocolate color.

Home Recipes

Simply mixing coffee and vodka in one glass and drinking it in one fell swoop is not interesting. Let's make something more complicated and at the same time find out what these drinks are called.

Boombox

Have you ever tried a boombox? This is a shot (that is, a very strong drink) obtained by mixing several ingredients in one container. The drink is served in the same glass - for this it received the definition of “build”.

We take:

• plum wine (15 ml);
• ristretto (1 serving);
• vodka (15 ml).

About the second ingredient - a little more. The name may not be familiar to you? Ristretto is an extremely strong coffee that is prepared using the same method as espresso, but with less water. It's essentially a double espresso. You definitely won’t fall asleep after this!

First pour wine into the glass, then ristretto with a teaspoon, and pour vodka on top. Ready!

Photo from the Internet

Effective

The name speaks for itself: the drink is extremely effective against lethargy and drowsiness. It is a digestif, meaning it should be consumed after meals. It is prepared like all drinks grouped into “shakes”, that is, cocktails that must be shaken before serving.

Putting it together:

• vodka (40 ml);
• Galliano liqueur (40 ml);
• espresso coffee (also 40 ml).

You will need 3 more coffee beans - for decoration - and ice cubes. Mix the ingredients in a glass, then filter into a cocktail glass, where we first add ice.

Espresso Martini

The proposed cocktail also belongs to digestifs. A little coffee liqueur (15 ml) should be combined with 15 ml of espresso (it should be cold), add 5 ml of vanilla syrup.

Now all that remains is to add vodka (30 ml) and ice cubes. Pour everything into a cocktail glass. You can treat yourself!

Homemade Lebowski

In order for this cocktail to turn out “correctly”, you will need to decorate it beautifully - pour it into a rocks glass, which has a thick bottom and an interesting shape - walls tapering downward.

Making Lebowski is not difficult: you need to combine 50 ml of vodka and cold espresso, as well as 25 ml of sugar syrup. Add 20 ml of cream to the drink, and use nutmeg as a decorative element.

Help espresso

Mix well:

• vodka (30 ml);
• ground coffee (10 g);
• coffee liqueur (20 ml);
• cream (15 ml).

You also need to add 10 ml of nut syrup and a few ice cubes.

Photo from the Internet

Irish version

Traditional Irish coffee is made with whiskey. In the adapted recipe, you need to scald the cup with boiling water and wipe dry. Pour in 2 tsp. vodka and add 2 pieces of refined sugar. Stir the base until the sugar dissolves. Top up the container with strong double espresso. Place 2 tsp on the surface of the foam. whipped cream and coffee beans.

The spectacular drink can be prepared in layers, trying to maintain the line between sweet alcohol and thick coffee.