The food and wine culture of Estonia has been blooming with innovation and flavour in recent years. Today you'll find plenty of Estonian eateries listed in food guides like White Guide Nordic, which lists 70 restaurants in Estonia. And the story is the same with Estonia's drink scene.
At the end of 2021, the competition for the best Estonian Drink (Parim Eesti Jook) was held for the third time and showcased the craft, ingenuity, and talent of drink makers from around Estonia. In total 141 different drinks were taken from 39 companies, which were evaluated through blind tastings. These were evaluated by renowned Estonian sommeliers, bartenders, journalists, and other experts in their field. Here you can read about which drinks took the title in each category as well the runner-ups. No matter what you'll find a drink that will excite your taste buds and have you coming back for more!
When it comes to craft beers and local brewing, Estonia has been on the rise. By combing the rustic and the modern, the Estonian beer scene has been gaining traction. No matter what kind of beer you prefer (dark, blond, IPA) or if you want it alcohol-free, you'll find something with the combination of texture and taste that will make you pause to appreciate what's in your glass.
Category - best specialty beer and dark beer
Category - best pilsner and camp-type beer
Category - Best Pale Sale and IPA
Category - The best fruit and sour-brewed beer
Category - Best Cider
For those who want to enjoy Estonian drink culture, but don't care for alcohol, there are several categories that might pique your interest. There were three categories here - lemonades, tonics and energy drinks, and other. As you can see, the winners and silver medalists went out of the box and incorporated ingredients like plum, cardamom, mate, and passionfruit into their concoctions.
Category - Best non-alcoholic beer
Category - Best Lemonade
Category - Best non-alcoholic drink (tonics and energy drinks)
Category Best fruit, berry and honey drink
Category - The best 'other' drink (with and without alcohol)
Whether you enjoy a good quality liquor or liqueur or if you prefer having them mixed into a cocktail, you'll have plenty to enjoy. This includes the best liqueur, vodka, and bottled mix drink.
Category - Best Vodka
Category - Best liqueur
Category - Best cocktail and mixed drink in the bottle
While liquor has its place, gin is something special. In fact, Estonia has been a gin drinker's paradise for a long time with world-renowned gins produced here, often with local Estonian ingredients. The fervor in Estonia continues so much that its outpacing vodka as the country's favourite liquor with bartenders always inventing new gin-based cocktails. As a result, the expectations and competition for quality gin are high leading to some of the best gin tastings you'll ever find.
Category - Best London Dry Gin
Category - Best dry and extra strong gin
Category - The best gin with a special taste
While you might already know something about the country's gin, Estonian wine remains less well known around the world. You can enjoy the more traditional wines in Estonia, those made of grapes. However, to really experience Estonian wine culture, you have to try the more unique wines made with local ingredients like rowan.
Category - Best sparkling wine
Category - Best light wine and blends with rowan
Category - Best dark wine
Category - Best other grain distillate, delicious wine, and snack