Bushwacker Vs Mudslide: Is There A Difference Between The Drinks?

Creamy cocktails can sometimes be a dessert all on their own, they're just that rich and flavorful. It's the core appeal of a boozy milkshake, after all: cream and alcohol just go great together. It's why we spike our eggnog — or even dare to add liquor to a Wendy's Frosty. The same brave choices gave us the White Russian, one of the archetypal creamy cocktails, which was invented by introducing heavy cream to a Black Russian's combo of vodka and coffee liqueur.

Two offshoots of the White Russian — the bushwacker and the mudslide — offer up unique spins on the classic, but, despite their shared ancestry, they differ in key ways. Chiefly, the bushwacker is made with a rum base and cream of coconut, while the mudslide retains the White Russian's vodka. But there's other nuances that further distinguish these sweet treats, from differences in body and texture to place of origin.

The bushwacker typically blends the aforementioned rum and cream of coconut with Kahlúa, creme de cacao, whole milk, and, crucially, ice. Its slushy consistency is perhaps its defining characteristic (though a mudslide can be blended with ice as well), and the chocolate syrup and nutmeg that top it off make it truly decadent. This is one to stick a straw in.

The mudslide, however, is a frothier cocktail better for slow sips. Starting with the same ingredients as a White Russian, the mudslide is born by adding Baileys Irish cream. It can also be topped with chocolate — syrup or shaved. As the drink is relatively simple, there's a lot of room for individual bartenders to express their own tastes. Some may add ice cream to really push it closer to milkshake territory.

In fact, both recipes are quite malleable. The bushwacker can also have Baileys or even triple sec, while the traditional vodka in a mudslide can be switched with brandy if you so prefer.

The bushwacker and the mudslide seem to have emerged around the same time — in the 1970s and '80s — amid similar beachy locales. The bushwacker is said to have been developed at a pub in the U.S. Virgin Islands and further iterated upon in Pensacola, Florida, giving it a more resort-friendly, poolside lilt. The mudslide originated in a bar on Grand Cayman Island, first served up as a twist on a White Russian — supposedly, the Baileys was added because the bar didn't stock heavy cream.

The bushwacker certainly has a more vocal fanbase, though. Pensacola Beach hosts an annual festival devoted to the sweet and creamy drink every August, complete with live music and bikini contests. You can even get it canned and bottled from liquor stores. The premixed Bushwacker Coconut Rum Cream, created in 2020 by two childhood friends in Alabama, was deemed the best rum-based ready-to-drink beverage at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.