Choose a cold-brew coffee mocktail with tonic and citrus

The short answer

For a complete, documented cold-brew coffee mocktail with tonic and citrus, use Ali Martin's cold brew tonic. One glass takes 1/3 cup chilled cold-brew concentrate, 3/4 cup chilled tonic, plenty of ice and one slice of orange or lemon. Pour the concentrate over the ice, add the tonic, stir briefly, garnish and serve right away. No separate sweetener is needed. The recipe also comes with a matching method for brewing the concentrate yourself, so it covers the whole drink from coffee grounds to glass.

Other versions exist and suit different goals. Compare them below before you choose, and keep each recipe's own quantities rather than blending their ratios together.

How the main options compare

Ali Martin's version: the most complete choice

This recipe gives every quantity for one glass and links to a specific concentrate method. In proportion, it uses a little more than twice as much tonic as concentrate, so the tonic carries the drink. You can choose orange or lemon for the garnish. Purchased concentrate is allowed, but Ali Martin advises starting with less when its strength differs from the homemade version, then adjusting to taste.

Cameron's version: more coffee, less tonic

Cameron's reverses the balance. It pours 1 cup of prepared Cold Brew Blend over ice, adds only 1/4 cup tonic and 1 teaspoon orange syrup, and finishes with fresh orange. Choose it when you want coffee to dominate and like a hint of sweetness from the citrus syrup. The recipe sends you to the package directions or a separate tutorial for brewing, so the coffee step depends on the product you buy.

Starbucks version: coffee tonic without cold brew

Starbucks layers 150 ml cold tonic over ice, adds one serving of its Coffee Craft Rich Black, garnishes with orange and optional mint, then stirs. It is a useful reference if you want the coffee-and-tonic idea with an orange and herb finish. It does not describe a cold-brew method, though, and the recipe does not state the coffee serving's volume or preparation, so it does not answer the cold-brew question.

Primula's ideas: flexible but unmeasured

Primula suggests pairing cold brew with tonic, lemon juice and simple syrup. Its other non-alcoholic ideas skip tonic: lemonade with honey, coconut water with pineapple juice, or soda water with a flavored syrup. None of these come with measurements. Treat them as directions for experimenting once you have a base recipe you like. For example, you could add a squeeze of lemon and a little simple syrup to a glass built on one of the measured recipes, tasting as you go.

Make the cold-brew concentrate

Ali Martin's concentrate method pairs with the tonic recipe:

• Combine 1 cup coarsely ground coffee with 4 cups cold water.
• Stir, cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
• Set a strainer lined with cheesecloth over a container, filter the concentrate and discard the grounds.
• Store what you do not use in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Use the concentrate as it is for the tonic drink. Ali Martin also gives dilution suggestions for drinking cold brew plain, but those apply only to plain coffee, not to the tonic recipe.

Scale the drink for a group

Here is an example calculation using Ali Martin's per-glass amounts for six glasses:

• Concentrate: 6 × 1/3 cup = 2 cups
• Tonic: 6 × 3/4 cup = 4 1/2 cups
• Citrus: six orange or lemon slices
• Ice: enough to fill six glasses

The brewing method does not say how much concentrate remains after straining. Measure your filtered batch before deciding how many glasses it will serve. Keep the concentrate and tonic chilled, and build each glass just before serving, as the recipe directs.

Check mixer labels before you buy

The recipes name ingredients, not specific approved products, so read the package of every tonic, syrup and purchased concentrate you plan to use. A simple purchasing worksheet keeps this organized. Give each row these columns:

• Ingredient
• Selected product
• Package ingredients
• Alcohol declaration, if the label gives one
• Preparation or dilution directions
• Handling and storage directions
• Quantity needed

Copy the information exactly as printed and leave a field blank when the package does not provide it. Resolve any blank alcohol field, for example by checking the manufacturer's own product information, before you serve the drink to guests as alcohol-free. For a purchased concentrate, record its dilution directions as well, since a different strength is the reason to start with a smaller pour.