Espresso Tonic
Tonic water, a lot of ice, and a shot poured slowly over the top. It sounds wrong and it is not: quinine and coffee are both bitter in ways that complement rather than compete.
At a glance
- Espresso : tonic
- 1:4
- Active time
- 3 min
- Total time
- 4 min
- Makes
- 1 tall glass
- Serve
- Over plenty of ice
- Kit
- Espresso machine
Ingredients
Note: This is the one drink on the site that genuinely wants a bright washed African coffee. A dark chocolatey roast turns muddy against the quinine.
Method
-
Fill the glass with ice
Right to the top. A full glass of ice melts more slowly than a few cubes, because the mass keeps itself cold, so the drink stays sharp instead of watering down.
-
Pour the tonic over it
Add 150 ml, poured down the side to keep the carbonation. Let it settle for a moment.
Tonic first is not optional. Pour it onto espresso and it foams violently over the rim.
-
Pull the shot and pour it slowly
Pull a double into a small jug, then pour it very slowly over the back of a spoon held just above the tonic.
It floats as a dark layer on top for a minute or so, because espresso is less dense than chilled sugared tonic. Pour fast and it mixes immediately and foams.
-
Twist the peel and serve
Squeeze a strip of orange peel over the surface and drop it in. Serve with a stirrer and let whoever is drinking it decide when to mix.
Why this works
Tonic water contains quinine, citric acid and sugar, and each of those does something for coffee. Quinine is bitter in a clean, dry way that sits differently on the palate from coffee's bitterness, so the two read as layered rather than doubled. The citric acid lifts the coffee's own fruit acidity. The sugar rounds the whole thing off.
Carbonation is the other half. Dissolved carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid, which registers as a slight prickling sharpness, and bubbles carry aromatic compounds up out of the glass as they rise. That is why a coffee tonic smells much more strongly of the coffee than an iced coffee of the same strength does.
The order and the speed of the pour are about density and about foam. Espresso is lighter than cold sweetened tonic, so a slow pour leaves it sitting on top in a distinct layer. It is also full of dissolved gas and surfactant oils, which is exactly what makes a carbonated drink foam over, so a fast pour from height erupts.
The drink traces to Koppi in Helsingborg, Sweden, in the late 2000s, and spread through the Nordic specialty scene before reaching everywhere else. It is a summer drink in its home and it still tastes most sensible in warm weather.
Variations
- With grapefruit peel instead of orange, which is drier.
- With a rosemary sprig, bruised and dropped in.
- Cold brew tonic: smoother and less acidic, using 60 ml of cold brew concentrate.
Made it?
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Questions
Which coffee works for espresso tonic?
A bright, fruity light roast, ideally a washed Ethiopian or Kenyan. Those citric and berry notes line up with the tonic. A dark chocolatey roast tends to go muddy and ashy against quinine.
Why did mine foam over?
The espresso went in too fast, or the tonic went in second. Fill with ice, add tonic, then pour the shot slowly over the back of a spoon.
Does the tonic brand matter?
Quite a lot. A dry tonic with real quinine leaves room for the coffee. Heavily sweetened supermarket tonic buries it. Soda water works too, though you lose the quinine bitterness that makes the drink interesting.
Should I stir it?
Taste the layers first, then stir. Unstirred the first sip is almost all coffee; stirred it becomes one long bittersweet drink. Both are good and most people end up stirring halfway.