Coffee & Tonic from Strøm cocktail bar

Espresso Tonic

Beans, bark and bubbles

It’s not every day you stumble upon a taste combination, that truly takes you by surprise.

Nordic Tonic WaterYou know coffee and you know tonic water, but if you’ve never tried the two together you’re in for a tasty surprise.

Something just happens when you mix one bitter thing with another (if you are the kind of person who enjoys a Campari Tonic, you know what I’m talking about), and suddenly you start noticing all the different aromas and taste notes – maybe the coffee is a bit grassy, maybe it has distinct peach notes, maybe you find some vanilla in there, maybe you notice that the tonic is not only bittersweet quinine, but has a plethora of zesty and herbal overtones.

Of course it all depends on the type of tonic and coffee you use. As is so often the case, high quality ingredients and careful preparation are of utmost importance when making something so minimalistic in composure.

At Strøm Bar they decided that to achieve the best result, they had to produce their own tonic water and team up with one of the top coffee roasters in town.

Coffee & Tonic from Strøm cocktail barNordic Tonic Water
Freshly brewed espresso over ice

Fill a highball glass with ice, pour in the tonic, leaving room for the espresso that you carefully pour on top, making sure not to get it too mixed up. Garnish with a lemon zest.

A refreshing yet sophisticated mixture that you can enjoy all day instead of your coldbrew or iced coffee – or at night if you need to be a little less sleepy and a little less drunk (if the latter is of no importance it’s actually also really good with a splash of gin).

P.S. The Kaffetonic was invented at Koppi Kaffe (link til koppi.se) in Helsingborg and has spread to many cities all over the world. Quite a few speciality coffee bars have started serving it in Copenhagen these last few years as well.

P.P.S. If you find yourself in San Francisco, do yourself the favour of trying one at Saint Frank Coffee – this is where we first tried it, even though it originated almost on our own doorstep.

Follow our monthly newsletter to have inspiration on craft cocktails from the best bars in Copenhagen delivered straight to your feed or indbox.

Coffee & Tonic from Strøm cocktail bar

Author image
Alexander Banck-Petersen
CoC's photographer and occasional writer. I enjoy cocktail photography almost as much as cocktail imbibery. I try to do the drinks justice by making them appear as appealing to the eye as they are to the mouth and nose. I have a weakness for gins and I'm fond of bitter stuff as well, but I'll enjoy a good rum, bourbon or whisky if I'm forced. :)