Espresso Tonic: The Drink You Will Make All Year
By My Store Admin
Coffee and tonic water sounds like a mistake.
It isn't. It's one of the best things you can do with a shot of espresso, and it takes ninety seconds.
If you've never had one, the short version: it tastes bright, bitter and slightly sweet, like a coffee that's been sharpened up. Closer to a soft drink than to coffee, but with all the coffee still in it.
Why It Works
Tonic water has quinine in it, which is bitter, and sugar, which isn't. Espresso brings its own bitterness plus acidity and body.
Put them together and the citrus and sugar in the tonic pull the fruity notes out of the coffee, the ones that get buried under milk. Coffees that taste of berries, citrus or stone fruit suddenly taste obviously of those things.
It's the same principle as putting lemon on fish. You're not covering the flavour, you're lifting it.
How to Make an Espresso Tonic
Fill a tall glass with ice. All the way.
Pour in 120–150ml of chilled tonic water. Chilled matters - room temperature tonic goes flat the second it hits ice.
Pull a double shot of espresso and pour it slowly over the back of a spoon onto the tonic.
Don't stir. The espresso will sit in a layer on top and gradually sink through, and half the pleasure is watching that happen.
Optional: a strip of orange peel, twisted over the glass first. It takes it from good to properly good.
The Order Matters
Tonic first, espresso second. Always.
Do it the other way and the carbonation erupts, you'll lose half the fizz and get a foamy mess. Pouring coffee onto tonic keeps the bubbles where they belong.
Pour slowly, too. Straight from the portafilter into the glass and you'll get the same problem.
Getting the Balance Right
The standard ratio is roughly one part espresso to four parts tonic. Start there.
Too bitter? More tonic. Too sweet and soft? Less. If your tonic is one of the heavily sweetened supermarket ones, use less of it, the drink should finish dry, not sugary.
A light tonic works well because it lets the coffee lead. So does a Mediterranean or citrus tonic if you like a bigger aromatic hit.
Which Coffee to Use
Here's the honest bit: our No Fuss Blend is not the obvious choice for this drink.
It's roasted for milk - treacle, dark chocolate, hazelnut, out of Ethiopia, Sumatra and Brazil. Those are deep, sweet notes rather than bright ones, and espresso tonic traditionally leans on lighter, fruitier coffees.
That said, it makes a version worth drinking. Darker and more cola-like than the café standard, less citrus, more depth. If you like a bitter drink, you'll prefer it. Use slightly less tonic, around 100ml, so the coffee isn't stretched too thin.
The Nightwatchman is the sleeper pick here. It's decaf, Colombian, and it runs to honey, milk chocolate and orange. That orange note is exactly what espresso tonic wants, and because there's no caffeine you can have one at 4pm without paying for it at midnight.
Four Variations Worth Trying
Orange and rosemary. A strip of orange peel and a sprig of rosemary in the glass before you build it. Sounds like a cocktail menu, takes ten seconds, genuinely good.
Grapefruit tonic. Swap standard tonic for grapefruit. Sharper and more bitter, and it suits a darker roast better than plain tonic does.
Cold brew tonic. Use 50ml of cold brew concentrate instead of a hot shot. Smoother and less acidic, and you can make it without turning on a machine.
A splash of soda. If tonic is too sweet for you, half tonic and half soda water keeps the fizz and drops the sugar. This is the version we drink most.
What doesn't work, for the record: sweetened flavoured tonics with vanilla or elderflower. Too much going on, and the coffee ends up buried.
Make one this weekend. Tonic first, espresso over the back of a spoon, orange peel if you've got it.
It's the drink we get asked about most once people have tried it, and nobody expects to like it as much as they do.
No worries, bru.
no worries, bru coffee co. | noworriesbrucoffee.co.uk