🥤 DRINK
Beton (Becherovka and Tonic)
Becherovka, the spiced herbal liqueur of Karlovy Vary, topped with tonic over ice and finished with a slice of lemon.
Czech · easy · serves 1
prep 3 min · cook 0 min
~188 cal · 1g protein · 28g carbs · 0g fat · 2g fiber · 24g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Beton is the Czech answer to the gin and tonic, and the classic way to drink Becherovka. The name joins the first letters of BEcherovka and TONic, and it is also the Czech word for concrete.
Becherovka comes from the spa town of Karlovy Vary in western Bohemia, where the spice trader Josef Vitus Becher began selling it in 1807 as a stomach remedy. Its recipe, a blend of more than twenty herbs and spices with a warm note of clove, cinnamon, anise and ginger, is famously secret.
The beton itself was invented for Expo 67 in Montreal, where the Czechoslovak pavilion showed off Bohemian glassware and wanted a drink to serve in it. Czech bartenders say its simplicity reflected how little they had to work with at the time. The bitter quinine of the tonic suits the spices of the liqueur, and it is still ordered in bars across the country, over ice with a slice of lemon.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 1
- a glassful ice cubes
- 40 ml Becherovka herbal liqueur
- 100 ml tonic water, chilled
- 1 lemon slice
Instructions
- 1Chill the Becherovka and the tonic water well beforehand, so the drink stays cold, lively and undiluted.
- 2Fill a glass with ice and pour in the Becherovka.
- 3Top with the cold tonic water and stir gently once with a spoon.✎ Chef’s noteKeep to about 2 parts tonic to 1 of Becherovka, a little more tonic for a longer, lighter drink.
- 4Add the lemon slice and serve straight away.
Czech bar classic, first served at Expo 67.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
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Bohemia. Bohemia, around Prague, cooks for its world-famous beer, roast pork, bread dumplings, and sauerkraut (vepřo-knedlo-zelo). Hearty and unapologetic, it centers the Czech pub and Sunday table.
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Czechia. Czech cooking is built for its beer, all roast pork, bread dumplings, sauerkraut, and rich gravies. Hearty, Central European, and unapologetically comforting, it centers the pub and the Sunday table.
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Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Czechia meal
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Frequently asked questions
What is Beton (Becherovka and Tonic)?
Becherovka, the spiced herbal liqueur of Karlovy Vary, topped with tonic over ice and finished with a slice of lemon.
Where does Beton (Becherovka and Tonic) come from?
Beton (Becherovka and Tonic) is a Czech dish from Bohemia, Czechia.
Can Beton (Becherovka and Tonic) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Beton (Becherovka and Tonic) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Beton (Becherovka and Tonic) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Beton (Becherovka and Tonic) take to make?
About 3 minutes total (3 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 1.
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