Fans of sparkling coffee
If you’re after bubbles, rather than simply coffee served cold, tonic cold brew combines a cold-brew coffee base with tonic. Carte Noire’s recipe needs to be prepared in advance.
Who are these options for?
Picnickers in a hurry
A ready-to-drink iced coffee means no grinding, filtering or mixing at the park. However, the milky options featured here won’t satisfy a craving for a sparkling drink.
Those who check what’s in their drink
Depending on the option you choose, you may need to check whether it contains milk, the sugars listed on the label and how much caffeine you’re having alongside your other drinks that day.
What should you look for?
Homemade tonic cold brew
Choose this if: bubbles are essential and you can prepare the coffee in advance.
Plan for: Carte Noire’s recipe needs 12 hours to brew in the fridge. Keep the tonic separate until you’re ready to serve.
Coffee concentrate to mix yourself
Choose this if: you’d rather mix your drink on the spot without making cold brew the day before.
Plan for: the concentrate isn’t fizzy, so you’ll need to bring tonic or sparkling water separately and follow the instructions for your chosen product.
Ready-to-drink iced coffee
Choose this if: you want to bring an individual drink without having to mix anything at the park.
Bear in mind: the milky options featured here aren’t sparkling. Check their ingredients and storage instructions too.
| What to consider | What to check | Who is it for? |
|---|---|---|
| Fizziness | Find a sparkling drink to add to your coffee and plan to mix them when you’re ready to serve. | I want bubbles in my coffee, not just a chilled coffee drink; around 36% of consumers put this at the top of their list. |
| Convenience at the park | Compare a ready-packaged drink with the equipment and ingredients you’d need to mix one on the spot. | If I don’t want to filter or measure anything during the picnic, ease of serving matters more than fizziness. That’s the priority for around 29% of consumers. |
| Ingredients | Check the ingredients, allergens and sugars per 100 ml. Take into account other sources of caffeine you’ll have that day. | Milk or sugar in a recipe could affect my choice, as could how much coffee I plan to drink; around 21% of consumers put ingredients first. |
| Portions and storage | Check the usable volume, what ingredients you’ll need to bring and the storage instructions after opening. | To avoid opening more drink than I need, I prefer to plan how many glasses I’ll have and what I can store afterwards; portion management is the priority for around 14% of consumers. |
Common mix-ups to avoid
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Mistaking ‘Café de Paris pétillant’ for coffee
The product Carrefour sells under this name is an alcoholic sparkling wine, not a fizzy iced coffee.
Before adding it to your shopping, read the product description and check whether it contains alcohol.
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Assuming ready-to-drink iced coffee is fizzy
The milky drinks featured by Carrefour and Auchan aren’t labelled as sparkling. Their convenient format is no substitute for tonic cold brew if bubbles are your top priority.
Check the drink’s product description. Otherwise, plan to bring a coffee base and a sparkling drink to mix together.
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Overlooking milk and sugar
Milky recipes and flavoured concentrates won’t necessarily have the same ingredients as an unflavoured coffee base.
Compare the ingredients, allergens and sugars per 100 ml, then consider these details in relation to the portion you’ll serve.
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Forgetting about other sources of caffeine
The caffeine in the coffee you serve at your picnic adds to the caffeine in your other drinks that day. Anses notes that its effects on sleep vary from person to person.
Take your other drinks into account when measuring out coffee or concentrate, and check the label if it lists the caffeine content.
Brands to know when comparing options
Carte Noire
An option for making tonic cold brew, rather than taking a ready-to-drink sparkling coffee with you.
- Carte Noire shares a recipe that combines cold-brew coffee and tonic.
- Its cafetière method takes some preparation and 12 hours to brew in the fridge.
L’OR
Its Pur Black concentrate can be used as a base for a drink mixed with tonic or sparkling water.
- Carrefour lists Pur Black in a 485 ml bottle, made with water and instant coffee.
- The concentrate itself isn’t fizzy. Check the ingredients and nutritional information separately for flavoured varieties.
Starbucks
A ready-to-drink milky iced coffee option if you don’t need it to be fizzy.
- Carrefour lists a 250 ml individual Frappuccino.
- This product contains milk and isn’t described as sparkling.
Columbus Café & Co / Candia
A ready-to-drink iced latte for anyone who’d rather have a milky recipe than bubbles.
- Auchan lists this milky coffee drink in a 250 ml format.
- It contains milk, isn’t fizzy and has storage instructions to follow after opening.
Barissimo
Another packaged coffee drink option, listed by ALDI France in a 330 ml format.
- Its format makes it easy to compare with other coffee drinks to take away.
- Check the packaging for its ingredients, whether it’s fizzy and its storage instructions.
Joybuy products for making cold brew
These coffee beans can be used as the base for homemade tonic cold brew. You’ll need to brew and chill the coffee in advance, then bring a sparkling drink separately. This isn’t a ready-to-drink sparkling coffee.
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Carte Noire Classic, whole-bean coffee, 250 g
Use it to prepare the coffee base for tonic cold brew in advance. This pack contains 250 g of whole-bean coffee, so you’ll need to grind and brew it, and bring a separate sparkling drink to serve.
Frequently asked questions
Is iced coffee always fizzy?
No. ‘Iced’ describes the serving temperature, not whether a drink has bubbles. The milky drinks featured here aren’t labelled as sparkling; Carte Noire’s tonic cold brew recipe adds tonic to cold-brew coffee.
When should you mix tonic and cold brew for a picnic?
Mix them just before serving if you want to keep the fizz. Carte Noire’s recipe suggests carrying the coffee base and tonic separately, then combining them with ice cubes.
What should you check on a pre-packaged iced coffee?
Start with the product description, ingredients, allergens and storage instructions. The European Commission says that most pre-packaged foods have a nutrition declaration. In particular, compare the sugars per 100 ml with the portion you plan to drink.
Should you count the coffee in tonic cold brew towards your caffeine intake?
Yes. The caffeine in its coffee base adds to the caffeine in your other drinks that day. If you adjust the amount of coffee or concentrate, bear in mind that the caffeine content of your prepared drink will depend on the recipe you use.