Smith and Kearns
ClassicCoffee liqueur, cream and soda — a fizzy Dakota classic.
Light, creamy and gently sparkling. Coffee liqueur gives sweet mocha depth, the cream rounds it into a soft head, and the soda lifts it all into something closer to an iced coffee float than a cocktail. Low-proof, nostalgic and very easy to drink.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Coffee Liqueur
- 1 oz Heavy Cream
- Soda Water to top
- Grated nutmeg · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Build the coffee liqueur and cream over cubed ice in a highball glass.
- 2
Stir gently to combine.
- 3
Top with chilled soda water.
- 4
Grate fresh nutmeg over the top.
The Story
The Smith and Kearns was born in the oil-boom country of the Dakotas in the 1950s, reportedly named for two men who ordered it at a Bismarck hotel bar. It is a simpler, sodawater cousin of the coffee-and-cream family — the fizz standing in for the heavier pour of a White Russian — and it became a regional staple that has quietly spread far beyond the northern plains.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
