York & Jorvik | King’s Square | Nordic Influence | Hel Above & Hel Below | Coffee Meets Heritage | NORSE CODE Today
NORSE CODE was born in York: a city shaped by Norse history, trade, craft and coffee culture.
The name brings together three influences: York’s Norse heritage, the Nordic speciality coffee movement that helped shape modern coffee culture, and the Scandinavian beer scene that influenced Yan’s early drinks career.
But the name is more than historical styling. NORSE CODE reflects the idea that great coffee and great drinks both depend on knowledge, precision and controlled process.
York, Jorvik and the Norse Legacy
York was known to the Vikings as Jorvik and became one of the most important Norse centres in Britain.
In AD 866, a Viking army captured York. Over the following decades, the city became a major centre of settlement, trade, craft and political power within the Viking world.
More than a thousand years later, York’s Norse heritage remains visible in its archaeology, street names, museums and identity.
When we set out to create a coffee liqueur with a strong sense of place, York’s Norse history provided the foundation for the name: NORSE CODE.
King’s Square and Konungsgarthr
King’s Square sits at the heart of modern York and close to an area strongly associated with the city’s Norse past.
The name Konungsgarthr, meaning King’s Court, is associated with the royal centre of Viking-age York. The exact layout of the royal complex is a matter of historical interpretation, but the connection between this part of the city and Norse rule remains important to York’s story.
The connection is personal too. Gordon continues to brew and serve coffee overlooking King’s Square at Harlequin Coffee House. The coffee expertise developed in York forms part of the foundation of NORSE CODE and continues to influence the way we approach coffee liqueur.
The nearby street name King’s Court adds another modern echo of that historic connection.
Nordic Coffee, Scandinavian Beer and Modern Drinks Culture
NORSE CODE was also influenced by a wider Nordic drinks culture.
Gordon and Yan were both influenced by the Nordic speciality coffee movement, which helped popularise lighter roasting, greater flavour clarity and a more precise approach to brewing.
Yan’s drinks background also included importing Scandinavian craft beer from producers such as To Øl and Evil Twin during the early 2010s, when Nordic brewers were helping reshape modern beer culture.
That combination matters. NORSE CODE is not simply a Viking-themed coffee liqueur. The identity brings together York’s Norse heritage with modern coffee thinking and the flavour-led experimentation that influenced contemporary drinks culture.
Why Hel Above and Hel Below?
The names Hel Above and Hel Below are inspired by Hel, a figure and realm in Norse mythology.
Rather than attempting to recreate historical drinks or recipes, we use Norse references as part of a distinctive identity rooted in York and the wider story behind the brand.
The two names also give us a clear way to distinguish two genuinely different coffee liqueur profiles.
Hel Above
22% ABV. Brighter, cleaner and more structured, particularly suited to Espresso Martinis and coffee-forward cocktails.
Hel Below
16% ABV. Richer, rounder and more textured, excellent in richer Espresso Martinis and particularly suited to Baby Guinness and layered serves.
EX-01
Limited Exceptional Series releases exploring distinctive coffee, careful brewing and spirit selection.
Where Coffee Meets Heritage
While the name comes from York history and Nordic influence, the liquid inside the bottle is built on modern speciality coffee expertise.
NORSE CODE was developed with Gordon Howell, UK Brewers Cup Champion and UK Coffee in Good Spirits Champion, alongside Coffee Spirit Co co-founder Yan.
Together they set out to build coffee liqueurs around real brewed coffee, controlled extraction and the way coffee actually behaves in a finished cocktail.
Every NORSE CODE expression is produced in Yorkshire using our Cold-Filter Brew approach, developed to give us greater control over the coffee before it is balanced with the other elements of the finished liqueur.
The result is a coffee-first range shaped by coffee expertise, drinks culture and a genuine connection to York and Yorkshire.
NORSE CODE Today
Today, NORSE CODE is a Yorkshire coffee liqueur range built around real brewed coffee, controlled extraction and distinct profiles for different serves.
- Hel Above — 22% ABV, brighter and more structured, particularly suited to Espresso Martinis and coffee-forward cocktails.
- Hel Below — 16% ABV, richer and more textured, excellent in richer Espresso Martinis and particularly suited to Baby Guinness and layered serves. Country Winner for England at the 2026 World Liqueur Awards.
- EX-01 — a limited Exceptional Series release exploring distinctive coffee, brewing and spirit selection.
Hel Above has also received IWSC Gold with 95 points, Great Taste 1-Star and International Spirits Challenge Bronze, while Hel Below has received Gold at the Global Liqueur Masters.
While NORSE CODE is inspired by York’s Norse heritage, the focus remains clear: make better coffee liqueur by starting with the coffee.
Explore NORSE CODE
Coffee-first liqueurs shaped by York heritage, Nordic influence and controlled extraction.