Estonia doesn't have the wine culture of France or the cocktail heritage of New York. What it has is more interesting: a craft brewery making some of northern Europe's best dark beers, a liqueur so embedded in Estonian identity that it survived the Soviet period and emerged stronger, and a fermented bread drink with roots in medieval Baltic food culture. Knowing what to order here makes a real difference.

Põhjala: Estonia's Craft Beer Standard-Bearer

Põhjala (pronounced roughly "POH-ya-la") is the brewery that put Estonian craft beer on the international map. Founded in Tallinn in 2011, it now exports across Europe and wins awards at competitions usually dominated by Belgian and American producers.

Their signature beers lean dark. Öö (meaning "Night") is a Baltic porter — deep brown-black, with coffee, chocolate, and a faint smokiness that doesn't overwhelm. Pime Öö ("Dark Night") is the imperial stout version: fuller, richer, and at higher alcohol. Both are built for cold Baltic evenings and aged in oak barrels for the limited releases.

The best place to drink Põhjala is the Põhjala Tap Room in Telliskivi Creative City. It's a relaxed industrial space with rotating taps, knowledgeable staff, and a food menu that complements the beers properly. Go on a Thursday or Friday evening for the most atmosphere. It's also one of the few places where you'll find their experimental and limited-release beers unavailable elsewhere.

Põhjala is widely available in bottle shops and supermarkets across the city. If you want a case to take home, the Tap Room sells packaged beers directly.

Other Estonian craft breweries worth noting: Lehe (lighter, more hop-forward styles), Õllenaut pub in the Old Town (excellent selection of Estonian craft alongside international options).

Vana Tallinn: The Amber Liqueur

Vana Tallinn translates as "Old Tallinn." It's a spiced rum-based liqueur with citrus peel, cinnamon, and other aromatics — amber-coloured, sweet but not cloying, with a warmth that builds slowly. It was created during the Soviet period and became one of the few Estonian products that gained genuine affection even outside the republic.

It comes in several strengths: 35%, 40%, and 50%. The stronger versions have more depth and less sweetness. The standard 40% is the most common and the best starting point.

How Estonians drink it:

• Neat as a digestif — the most traditional approach
• Mixed with coffee — a small pour into black coffee, particularly good in winter
• Mixed with hot milk — sounds odd, tastes better than you'd expect
• As a cocktail base — some Tallinn bars use it in place of rum in tiki-adjacent drinks

Buy a bottle as a souvenir. It's widely available at supermarkets, duty-free, and the Maiasmokk café in the Old Town. Prices are low by western European standards.

Kali: The Bread Drink That Survived Communism

Kali is a fermented rye bread drink. It's made by steeping rye bread or malt in water, adding sugar, and allowing brief fermentation — the result is slightly sour, faintly sweet, amber-coloured, and very low in alcohol (typically under 1%). It has almost no carbonation. It tastes like nothing you've had before.

The closest comparison is Russian kvass, which is the same tradition. But kali has its own flavour profile shaped by Estonian rye bread, which is darker and more sour than Russian varieties.

During the Soviet period, kali was sold from street barrels by vendors across Tallinn. The barrels are gone, but kali survives in plastic bottles at supermarkets and market stalls, and occasionally on tap at traditional restaurants.

It is not for everyone. The flavour is genuinely unusual — earthy and slightly fermented. But it's a piece of authentic Baltic food culture that's worth trying once, and it's completely different from anything tourists typically encounter.

Find it at Balti Jaama Turg market stalls, most Rimi and Maxima supermarkets, and occasionally at Olde Hansa as part of their historic drinks menu.

Where to Drink Well in Tallinn

Hell Hunt (Pikk Street, Old Town): The oldest pub in Estonia, established 1993 — not ancient by European standards but a Tallinn institution. Warm interior, broad beer selection including Estonian craft, local crowd mixed with visitors. A good first stop on any evening.

Pudel Bar (Kalamaja): Small, serious craft beer bar in the Kalamaja neighbourhood. Rotating taps focused on Estonian and Northern European breweries. The bartenders know their stock. No food menu — this is a drinking establishment.

Frank (Pärnu maantee): A cocktail bar that takes its craft seriously without being precious about it. Reasonable prices, knowledgeable staff, good atmosphere for a late evening drink.

Swing Kitchen (various): If you want something non-alcoholic and interesting, several cafes in Tallinn now make house-fermented kombucha, kefir drinks, and cold-brew coffee. The café culture in Kalamaja in particular has gone well beyond flat whites.

A Note on Drinking Culture

Estonians don't drink in the same performative, social-lubricant way that pub cultures in Britain or Ireland do. Alcohol is present and enjoyed, but the culture around it is quieter. Shouting across a bar or getting conspicuously drunk is noticed and not admired.

The exception is Friday and Saturday evenings in the Old Town, which attract stag parties (primarily British) in sufficient numbers to change the atmosphere significantly in some venues. If that's not your scene, Kalamaja and Telliskivi are where Tallinn actually goes out.

For the full breakdown of Tallinn's neighbourhoods, transport, and how to structure your days — including timing for markets, attractions, and day trips — the Tallinn ConciseTravel guide covers it all in one concise document.