Espresso Tonic and Night Shift: non-alcoholic coffee drinks

Coffee cocktails don’t need alcohol. The best-known is the Espresso Tonic: espresso served over ice-cold tonic water, first recorded in Oslo in 2007. From our mocktail menu comes the ‘Night Shift with Energy’ – Blackcurrant & Pomegranate and cold espresso. Here you’ll find both drinks, what’s in each glass and how much caffeine they contain in total.

An overview of coffee drinks

Neither drink contains alcohol. The caffeine levels for espresso are approximate, as the content can vary.

Night Shift: Espresso meets Energy – Blackcurrant & Pomegranate

Our mocktail menu features the ‘Night Shift with Energy’ – Blackcurrant & Pomegranate, 2 cl of cold espresso, ice cubes and orange zest. You can find the full recipe, step by step, on the ‘Drinks with Energy – Blackcurrant & Pomegranate’ page.

Caffeine: One can of ‘Energy – Blackcurrant & Pomegranate’ contains around 106 mg of caffeine. According to the BfR’s approximate table, 2 cl of espresso – a 60-ml cup contains around 80 mg – adds about 27 mg to this. Together, that amounts to around 132 mg. This is below the single dose of 200 mg that the EFSA classifies as safe for adults; it has not assessed this for people with medical conditions. According to the EFSA, even 100 mg can affect sleep in some adults, particularly shortly before going to bed.

Energy – Blackcurrant & Pomegranate carries the warning: ‘High caffeine content. Not recommended for children or pregnant or breastfeeding women’. According to the BfR, people who are sensitive to caffeine – for example, those with cardiovascular conditions – should also avoid drinks with a high caffeine content.

Espresso Tonic: Origins and Preparation

The Espresso Tonic is a non-alcoholic mixed drink made from espresso and tonic water. The earliest record of it dates from 2007 in Oslo, where it was mixed by a barista who was working with the future founders of the Swedish roastery Koppi. In the same year, it appeared on Koppi’s menu in Helsingborg as ‘Kaffe & Tonic’. From Scandinavia, it spread throughout the 2010s via international barista competitions to North America and, by 2015, to Japan as well.

1. Pour the tonic water into a glass with ice.
2. Pour the espresso on top – this creates layers. If you pour the tonic over the espresso, you’ll get a frothy head.
3. You can adapt the recipe to your taste by adding sugar syrup, lemon or other flavourings such as cherry, lime or honey.

It is served, for example, in a Collins glass with a straw. The Espresso Tonic is not a drink on our menu.

What’s in the glass?

Tonic water is a type of bitter soft drink and is made from a solution of quinine and a mixture of sugar and acid. As a soft drink, it always contains ingredients to give it a sweet taste, such as sugar or sweeteners. According to the BfR, pregnant women should, as a precaution, avoid drinks containing quinine.

Caffeine in focus

For adults with no underlying health conditions, the EFSA considers up to 200 mg of caffeine in a single dose and up to 400 mg per day to be safe; for pregnant and breastfeeding women, the limit is up to 200 mg per day. The caffeine table shows how much caffeine is contained in each drink; the guidelines are explained in ‘How much caffeine per day?’, and information on how long caffeine remains effective can be found under ‘The half-life of caffeine’.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. Acqua Reaper: Product label for Energy Blackcurrant, as at 07/26.
2. ACQUA REAPER: Product labels, as at 26 July.
3. ACQUA REAPER: Product label – Sparkling, 14 August 26.
4. Wikipedia (English): Espresso and tonic, as at 1 July 26. en.wikipedia.org
5. Wikipedia: Tonic Water, as at 26 August 26. de.wikipedia.org
6. Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR): Questions and answers on caffeine and caffeinated foods, including energy drinks, FAQ dated 5 January 2026. bfr.bund.de
7. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA): Caffeine, Scientific Opinion 2015, accessed 16 September 2026. efsa.europa.eu
8. Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL): Quinine in drinks, as at 5 August 2022. lgl.bayern.de
9. Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR): Drinks containing quinine are not suitable for pregnant women! (Press release 17/2005), 7 June 2005. bfr.bund.de
10. German Food Codex Commission: Guidelines for Soft Drinks, revised version dated 10 April 24, BAnz AT 16 May 24 B3. deutsche-lebensmittelbuch-kommission.de
11. U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central: Carbonated drinks, tonic water (SR Legacy, FDC ID 171869), published 1 April 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov