Wild city – wild taste in a glass

Flavours at the edge of concrete and nature

The pulse of the city, the glow of street lights, and the nature of the North collide in a glass in a way that surprises and delights. Wild City brings edge, rhythm, and urban grit to every drink — always with local ingredients and wild imagination.

What are Arctic Food Lab mocktails and cocktails?

Arctic Food Lab drinks combine the wild nature of the North and urban culture in complete freedom.

Forest and concrete meet. Light and shadow. Boldness and surprise. Every mocktail and cocktail contains at least two ingredients from the Oulu2026 region — berries, herbs, spruce shoots, ferments, or other local flavours brought to life in the hands of skilled bartenders.

The northern cycle of seasons shows in every glass: the brightness of summer glows in preserved berries, and the depth of the polar night lends dark tones to the drinks. Every drink is a story — sometimes sweet, sometimes smoky, always with a northern edge.

Wild City lives in street lights and drink menus alike. Restaurants interpret the theme of the European Capital of Culture year in their own style — but always wildly!

Wild city theme drinks

Queen of the north

The Queen of the North — a play on the senses. A warm summer’s day in a city where the wild north meets the urban pulse. The berry flavours of the north together in one glass — light, refreshing, and easy to love.

Local ingredients: Marjarannikko blueberry juice, blueberries, gin

Available at: 1Bar
Kauppurienkatu 5, Oulu

Keltainen juoma lasissa, jonka päällä vaahtoa ja kukkia

Hattara

Hattara, the cloud giant of Finnish mythology, is a grey, shape-shifting creature that commands wind and weather. It descends to the earth as mist, distorting the landscape and muffling all sound. Hattara is not passive — it leads travellers astray, wraps itself around trees, and unleashes a furious storm. Lightning reveals its vast contours for a brief moment before it dissolves into the winds. Our drink captures this hazy, cloud-like essence and the wild spirit of the forces of nature.

Local ingredients: Kujala Farm cloudberry syrup, Marjarannikko sea buckthorn juice

Available at: Cafe Kuluma
Kauppurienkatu 5, Oulu

mustikkainen juoma lasissa, päällä vaahtoa

Layers of the forest

The forest does not reveal itself all at once. It builds in layers. Blueberry and blackcurrant grow low, close to the ground. Spruce shoots rise above them, carrying the green of new growth. Vermouth brings a quiet bitterness — something old and tamed. Cream settles on the surface as a thin veil, and beneath it, everything waits. This drink is like the forest in layers — it doesn’t appear all at once, but is discovered gradually.

Local ingredients: blueberry, spruce shoot

Available at: Cocktail Company
Hallituskatu 9, Oulu

Wild temptation

A wild combination of bitters, lingonberry, and rose: wild in nature — tamed into a glass, ennobled with crushed juniper berry.

Local ingredients: Korpihilla lingonberry juice, juniper berry

Available at: Kurkela lounge & dine
Pikisaarentie 17, Oulu

Forest code

Forest Code — when nature’s algorithm meets the urban pulse!

In this drink you can clearly see the contrasts: wild nature at the bottom of the glass, with glowing technology built on top. The flavours of the layers work beautifully on their own, but when mixed together they create something new and beautiful. Traditional flavours from the forest, with a touch of contemporary sparkle and freshness!

Local ingredients: Kujala Farm cranberry syrup, Marjarannikko cranberry juice

Available at: Teerenpeli
Kauppurienkatu 8, Oulu

Blueberry thyme spritz

Blueberry represents our northern heritage, resilience, and the gifts of nature. It gives the drink its magnificent royal colour. Thyme adds a modern, herbal nuance — symbolising Oulu’s growth and the new winds that the Capital of Culture year brings. The bubbling spritz captures the sparkling joy and international spirit that Oulu2026 represents.

Local ingredients: Marjarannikko blueberry juice, blueberry

Available at: UP Bar&Lounge
Pakkahuoneenkatu 12, Oulu

A flavour that surprises! Urban at heart, northern at its roots — wild, but considered.

Second theme: Wild city

The city doesn’t tame the taste

Wild City is a world of flavours where the urban beats in time with nature. It describes the life force of the North — a blend of concrete and roots, street lights and moss. This is a place where the city does not smooth things over, but rather highlights the flavours.

In the drinks this is expressed as wild combinations: ingredients meet without prejudice, tradition collides with the present moment. The flavour palette can be sweet and sharp at the same time, familiar yet wild. Every drink builds a story in which the living pulse of the city meets the silence of northern nature — in the glass you can taste both the bustle of people and a forest path.

A single sip can carry you from the concrete to the forest, or from a rough graffiti wall straight to a misty marsh. The drinks surprise, sparkle, and leave a mark.

Step inside, order a drink — and you’ll find this city has never tasted this wild.

Wild City theme drinks available 30 Apr – 31 Aug 2026. Experience the theme before it changes!

Wild taste in a glass!

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Where do the ingredients come from?

Northern flavours in a glass

In Northern Finland, nature offers ingredients from which extraordinary drinks are born. Berries, herbs, and other natural treasures gathered from the forests and coastline of the Oulu2026 region make each cocktail and mocktail a unique story. Here are a few of the region’s iconic flavours — ingredients that bring the drinks to life.

Spruce shoot – the citrus of the north

The spruce shoot is the young, light-green tip of a spruce tree, adorning the trees in early summer. The best harvesting time is brief: the shoots are picked while still small and soft — full of spring vitality. Fresh spruce shoot has a foresty character, gently reminiscent of citrus, which is precisely where its nickname “the citrus of the North” comes from.

Sea buckthorn – the electric coastal berry

Toughened by the sea, sea buckthorn is a vitamin C powerhouse from the shores of the Bothnian Bay, and its sparkling acidity will liven up any drink. The sea buckthorn shrub grows wild along the coastal regions of the Oulu2026 area all the way from the Gulf of Bothnia to the latitude of Tornio. The bright orange berries are exceptionally nutritious — just one hundred grams of sea buckthorn provides as much vitamin C as 10–20 oranges. This sharp, refreshing berry has truly earned its reputation as a superfood. Its flavour is intense and electric: a small amount of sea buckthorn juice or purée instantly adds spark and colour to any blend.

Tar – the smoky icon of the north

Oulu was once known for its tar merchants — so it comes as no surprise that tar is an iconic northern flavour. Tar, produced by slowly charring pine, adds a deep, smoky aroma to drinks. Just a few drops are enough to transform a drink’s character: in the glass you can taste campfire smoke, and in the mind the traditions of tar-burning are awakened. A small amount, but a vast story.

Wild taste in a glass — northern flavours from Oulu2026