What to Drink in Iceland

In France, Spain and Italy, it's wine. In Portugal, it's port. In Germany and the Czech Republic, it's beer. Most European countries have a signature drink, and Iceland is no exception. Its most traditional drink is Brennivín, fondly called the Black Death, but it's far from the only homegrown option. Since I first wrote this, Iceland has gone from one vodka distillery to whisky, gin and a whole craft beer scene.

Brennivín

Brennivín is Iceland's schnapps: a clear spirit distilled from fermented grain mash and flavored only with caraway, bottled at 37.5%. The name translates as "burning wine," and it has a strong, distinct, rye-bread-like taste. It got the nickname svarti dauði, the Black Death, from its stark black label with a skull, which was meant to put people off drinking it.

It's the traditional drink at Þorrablót, the midwinter feast held during the old month of Þorri (mid-January to mid-February), and it's the classic chaser for hákarl, the fermented shark. Plenty of Icelanders don't drink it the rest of the year. If you want to try it, buy a mini bottle at the airport duty-free or ask for a shot in a bar. Tapas Barinn's Icelandic menu even opens with one.

Beer

Beer has a rocky history in Iceland. After a 1908 referendum, all alcohol was banned from 1 January 1915. Wine came back in 1921, when Spain threatened to stop buying Icelandic fish unless Iceland bought Spanish wine. Spirits were legalized in 1935, but strong beer stayed illegal until 1 March 1989. That date is now Beer Day. (The full story is on Wikipedia's page on prohibition in Iceland.)

The country's oldest brewery, Ölgerðin Egill Skallagrímsson, was founded in 1913 and kept going through prohibition with light beer and soft drinks. Today it makes Egils Gull, the lager you'll see in almost every bar, and the Borg Brugghús craft line. Other names to look for:

• Kaldi, from Bruggsmiðjan at Árskógssandur on Eyjafjörður, north of Akureyri. It's Iceland's first craft brewery, making unfiltered Czech-style beer with no added sugar or preservatives. The brewery runs tours and also has the Bjórböðin beer spa and a hotel. In Reykjavik, drink it at Kaldi Bar on Laugavegur.
• Gull and Víking are the everyday lagers you'll see on tap and in the liquor store. At Kaffibarinn, Gull is among the cheapest pours at happy hour.
• Craft beer is everywhere now, from IPAs to seasonal Christmas and Þorri beers that show up in the liquor stores for a few weeks each year.

Beer is still the cheapest drink in most bars, but it isn't cheap. At Kaffibarinn, a draft beer costs 1,700 to 1,850 ISK, or from 1,050 ISK during happy hour (as of 2026). Happy hour is the best way to save money. See the Reykjavik rúntur for how Icelanders do a night out, and the brewery tour in Reykjavik if you want to learn more.

Vodka, whisky and gin

When I lived in Reykjavik, Reyka was the only Icelandic distillery anyone talked about. That's no longer true.

• Reyka is distilled in Borgarnes, in west Iceland, with water from a glacial spring that runs through a 4,000-year-old lava field. The vodka is filtered through lava rock, and the distillery runs on geothermal energy. It's smooth enough to drink on its own and it's easy to find in bars and at duty-free.
• Eimverk, a family-run distillery in Garðabær founded in 2009, makes Flóki, Iceland's first single malt whisky, along with Vor gin and Víti brennivín, all from local ingredients. It offers tastings and tours if you book ahead.

Icelandic gins have taken off too. Kaldi Bar keeps 93 gins on the shelf, including its own Kaldi Gin.

Soft drinks: Appelsín, malt and jólaöl

Iceland's favorite non-alcoholic drinks come from the same brewery. Egils Appelsín is an orange soda introduced in 1955, and Egils Malt is a dark, sweet malt drink that many Icelanders swear by for an upset stomach. Mixed together, malt and appelsín are the classic Icelandic Christmas drink, and in December you'll see stacks of both in every supermarket.

There was also an older Christmas drink, jólaöl, or hvítöl, a dark, low-alcohol Danish-style beer that Ölgerðin brewed from 1913 until 2020. Before the 1980s, people queued outside the brewery with their own containers in the last days before Christmas. See Christmas in Iceland for more holiday traditions.

And don't pay for bottled water. Icelandic tap water is excellent, and restaurants will bring you a jug for free if you ask.

Where to buy alcohol

Supermarkets only sell very low-alcohol beer. Everything else comes from Vínbúðin, the state liquor monopoly. You have to be 20 to buy, and staff check ID. The main Reykjavik stores are open Monday to Thursday 11:00 to 18:00, Friday 11:00 to 19:00 and Saturday 11:00 to 18:00 (full hours).

The cheaper option is the duty-free store in the Keflavík arrivals hall. Travelers 20 and over can bring in, for example, 1 liter of spirits, 0.75 liters of wine and 3 liters of beer, or 18 liters of beer (all the combinations). There's more in drinking in Iceland and self-catering in Iceland, and to go with your drinks, see what to eat in Iceland.

Photos by: ChrisGoldNY, Ben Husmann