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:
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.