Espresso tonic variant: Tropical ginger beer

Okay, so, a lot has been said about espresso tonic. But there are other interesting combinations of espresso with carbonated beverages.

One fairly obvious one would be an espresso kola, namely espresso and a cola-type beverage. It’s okay with Coca-Cola but really good when using Q Kola.

Earlier this year, Morgan Eckroth won the US Barista Championship with a signature drink that involved lime extract, mango purée, and orange blossom water (among other things). And those flavors have a profile pretty similar to Q’s tropical ginger beer, so I figured…

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I made this with a 30-second extraction of Metric Decaf Halo Hartume (18g in/40g-ish out), and the flavor is incredibly well-balanced. The coffee takes some of the edge off of the ginger spice, the sweetness of the mango complements the subtle sweetness of the espresso, and the entire drink is greater than the sum of its parts.

I had a feeling that this would be either really good or really bad, and I’m happy to say that it’s the first one.

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