Cool Contrasts – wild taste in a glass!
Flavours born from contrast
In the North, contrasts never stay apart. Summer is bright, winter is dark. Forest meets the sea, raw meets refined, and tradition meets the future.
Cools Contrasts brings these encounters into the glass. Sour can meet rich, cold can meet hot, and wild can meet refined. Familiar northern flavours are paired with something unexpected – and that is where the most interesting moments begin.
Arctic Food Lab drinks explore what happens when two different worlds meet in the same glass.
Cool Contrasts is not about opposition. It is about encounter.
What are Arctic Food Lab cocktails and mocktails?
Northern ingredients. Bartender creativity. Cool Contrasts.
Arctic Food Lab drinks are created where local ingredients, professional bartending and the theme of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture year come together.
Every drink contains at least two ingredients or products from the Oulu2026 region. They can be berries, herbs, spruce shoots, ferments, sap or other local flavours.
Cool Contrasts challenges bartenders to find pairings that are not obvious.
Forest can meet the sea. Bright acidity can meet deep, rich flavours. A traditional ingredient can meet a new technique. Something rough and natural can become elegant and refined.
A drink can be two things at once.
Most drinks are available in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions. Please check with the participating bar or restaurant for details.
Cool Contrasts – theme drinks
Roots
Local ingredients: locally foraged dried porcini mushrooms and locally produced striped beets
Available at: Cafe Kuluma
Kauppurienkatu 5, Oulu
Days Taken From the Ground
Local ingredients: cloudberry and honey tea
Available at: Cocktail Company
Hallituskatu 9, Oulu
At the Mercy of Oulu
Local ingredients: Kujala Farm blueberry syrup and Yrttiaitta spruce tip drink
Available at: Jumpru Pub
Kauppurienkatu 6, Oulu
The Interface
At the heart of the drink is an alliance between two different forces. The gin brings fresh brightness, while red vermouth adds depth and warmth. Lingonberry and cranberry bring the sharp berry character of the northern forests, softened by the gentle sweetness of vanilla. Finally, Fernet Branca leaves behind a refined, slightly challenging yet intriguing herbal echo.
Local ingredients: lingonberry juice and cranberry syrup
Available at: Teerenpeli
Kauppurienkatu 8, Oulu
Spruce Tip – Sour
Local ingredients: spruce tips, pickling brine and pickled cucumber
Available at: UP Bar & Lounge
Pakkahuoneenkatu 12, Oulu
In the North, contrasts are close. So are they in the glass.
The third theme: Cool Contrasts
A drink does not have to look the way it tastes.
A clear drink can be deep and smoky. An elegant glass can hide the flavours of the wild forest. A rough ingredient can become almost silky.
What if the first sip tells you something completely different from what the drink looks like?
Contrast can come from temperature, texture, technique, presentation – or from a small detail the guest never saw coming.
Don’t be afraid of contradiction.
That may be where the best part of the drink begins.
Step inside and order a drink. Each participating bar interprets Cool Contrasts in its own way. The name, flavour, techniques and story come from the bartender’s own perspective.
Cool Contrasts theme drinks are available from September 25.9. to 31 December 2026.
Taste what happens when contrasts meet.
Taste Cool Contrasts – find your favourite
- Discover the drinks at participating restaurants and bars
- Join Arctic Food Lab events
- Try making Arctic Food Lab drinks at home
- Follow Arctic Food Lab and discover the drinks of the year
Northern flavours, new encounters
The ingredients of the Oulu2026 region offer endless possibilities for creating contrasts.
The acidity of berries can meet richness. Forest aromas can encounter the salinity of the sea. Smoke can be lifted by acidity. Fermentation can transform a familiar ingredient into something completely new.
Preparation can create contrast, too.
Fresh × dried
Fresh and dried ingredients offer two different ways of preserving northern flavours. Fresh ingredients are bright and lively; dried ingredients are deeper, more concentrated and intense. Together, they create layers of flavour.
Raw × fermented
The direct, recognisable flavour of a raw ingredient meets the acidity and complexity created by time. Fermentation transforms familiar ingredients – sometimes subtly, sometimes completely.
Acidic × roasted
Acidity brings brightness and precision. Roasted flavours add depth, warmth and darker notes. Together, they create a balance where freshness meets richness.
Natural × clarified
Natural can be cloudy, rough and unpredictable. Clarification makes a flavour clean and precise. Together, they reveal how the same ingredient can take on a completely different character without losing its connection to its origin.