Slippbarinn at the Hotel Marina in might be the best spot for cocktails in Reykjavik, in no small part due to the presence of Iceland’s 2013 Coffee In Good Spirits champion Vala Steffansdottir. At Slippbarrinn, she crafts delicate negronis in frozen orbs, or her current favorite, a barrel-aged martini served in a frozen smoked glass. For her winning routine at Coffee In Good Spirits,, Vala created two cocktails that erred on the side of simplicity (and deliciousness). We had the opportunity to meet the champion at last weekend’s DC Campus in Milan, Italy, where she was gracious enough to share the exclusive recipes for for the best coffee cocktails in Iceland.

These cocktails don’t have clever names – Vala kept it simple, and perhaps that was her secret for victory. The format for Coffee In Good Spirits competition calls for a “hot” coffee cocktail and a “cold” coffee cocktail. Here are Vala’s recipes:

(Via Facebook)

Hot: The Tequila One

1oz smoky tequila 100% agave – tres tonos
1/2oz simple syrup
1/2oz fresh orange juice
A dash of Angostura Orange Bitters
5oz Kaffismiðja Íslands Colombia La Primavera (Aeropress)
Make it all in a pitcher
Serve in wine glass

Cold: The Butter Coffee
1oz Cruzan Light Rum
1/2oz brown butter – noisette – strained
1/3oz simple syrup
Double shot of espresso
Shake with ice
Strain into a small cocktail glass
Top with nutmeg

For this events at DC Campus in Milan, Vala whipped up two brand new coffee cocktails. In the expert opinion of this inexpert journalist, I found them both to be delicious.

Hot: Irish Coffee
1oz Nikka Miyagikyo 12 Year
1/2oz simple syrup
5oz Kaffismiðja Íslands Colombia La Primavera (Aeropress)
1/2oz of shaken cream

Cold: Strawberry Coffee
1 large strawberry, stemmed
30ml Elisir Gambrinus Ramboso Liqueur
20ml Grand Marnier
15ml simple syrup
Double espresso
Shake with ice – hard shake to muddle the strawberry
Double strained into a chilled cocktail glass

We know where we’re headed on our next Iceland Air free stopover in Reykjavik. Slippbarinn is located at Myrargata 2, in Reykjavik’s unbelievably hip and beautiful 101 district.

Sprudge.com is in Milan all week covering the scene at DC Campus. Coverage made possible by Urnex and Dalla Corte.

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We lost a solid amount of time today (that we did not have to lose) catching up on one of our favorite blogs, Scandinavia’s essential-but-infrequently-updated Nordic Coffee Culture. Of particular clock-stealing interest was this feature on Icelandic coffee history, from our friend Tumi Ferrer:

Some examples of superstitions related to coffee are quite interesting. In early 20th century, if you drank your coffee with milk or cream and sugar, you had to put the sugar before the cream; if you had done it the other way around you wouldn’t get married for at least seven years! Drinking the coffee piping hot made you ugly, whereas when enjoyed at a colder temperature it made you pretty. Sediment left in the cup after drinking was a good omen.

Accidentally serving guests coffee in an unmatched cup and saucer (called þrælapar in Icelandic or “slave couple”) means the guest will have an affair or remarry; if you refill the cup before you’ve finished from it the first time you’ll get a bad mother-in-law.
Some habits still make sense. It was considered rude – and still is in my opinion – to fill the cup to the rim. It was also common to see coffee drinkers pour a little bit of black coffee from the cup on to the saucer to let it cool faster.

What’s the deal with Scandinavians and the whole “sex penalty” drinking traditions thing? Then we clicked on the closing link, which took us to this charming little coffee tour of Reykjavik.

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From the wonderful coffee culture of Iceland, where there is, in fact, an ”X” in espresso, comes this awesome chance for Reykjavikings to try some tasty American roasted coffees, courtesy of Sprudge pal Jay Lijewski. The event listing is here, but we won’t even pretend like we know how to read Icelandic, so let’s kick it over to that wacky ol’ Google Translator!

Jay Lijewski is the former Spirit Director and part of West Coast Operations for Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea.  Jay has worked as a barista for years and most recently at Intelligentsia. Jay is also a góðkunnur (?) that introduces the Nordic Cup barista and the WBC over the past year.  Jay is staying here in this country with his wife Jess, and as we all remember, that they themselves were baristas here for Nordic Cup in Iceland 2009. They are a short stop and go over to Copenhagen next week. They live in LA and travel on a motorcycle, as is the fashion among baristas in LA currently.  Jay collected coffee from various coffee burning district in the USA as it comes with to allow us to taste and experience. He will discuss on how it is to be coffee bartender in the USA and the culture around it. It will be interesting to hear him tell of his experience and taste the coffee.  Everyone is welcome to come and listen to Jay and taste the coffee as he waits requested.

Our analysis? “Coffee burning district” is like the best name for a roaster ever, Jay Lijewski is a TOTAL góðkunnur, and ugh, we love Reykjavik so much. The event is Saturday, January 14th, from 7:30 til 10pm at Kaffismiðja Íslands (Kárastígur 1, 101 District, Reykjavik), a cafe owned by Sonja Bjork Grant and Ingibjörg Jóna Sigurðardóttir, two of the most talented, intelligent, and dedicated people in all of specialty coffee.

If you are in town and need directions, or get lost, simply walk up the hill towards the big church steeple, in the opposite direction of the hot dog stand.

(Ed note: Thanks to Haukur S. Magnússon, Editor of The Reykjavik Grapevine, for confirming “X” in espresso’s common usage and linguistic validity “throughout all of Iceland.”)

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Tumi!

Stay tuned for the Icelandic Barista Competition this Sunday!

Livestreamed here (fingers crossed):
http://www.livestream.com/kaffipalmar

and you can also follow on Twitter @TumiFerrer (#IBC2011).

More info here:
http://worldbaristachampionship.com/2010/12/21/kaffihatið-2011/

And if you can read Icelandic: http://kaffibarthjonafelag.is

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