It’s the unofficial start of drinking season. (Because when college sports and professional football begin, America seems to go booze crazy – and that trend seems to go strong until January 1st…)
We want to help you stock your liquor cabinet before the main event (aka, Thanksgiving), so we’ve rounded up some sustainable liquor you should consider buying.
Vodka
Image from American Harvest’s Facebook page
American Harvest Vodka
American Harvest’s vodka is filled with organic winter wheat that’s grown on a sustainable farm. The company gets its water from aquifers under the Snake River Plain. This USDA certified organic vodka brand also is dedicated to sustainable agriculture, wind power, and using sustainable and recycled packaging.
Tequila
Image of 4 Copas from its Facebook page
4 Copas Tequila
4 Copas Tequila is made of 100 percent organic blue agave. The company uses sustainable plants for a simple reason: because it’s dedicated to improving the well-being of the Earth and its soil. The company produces six different types of tequila.
Bourbon
Image of Koval from its Facebook page
Koval Bourbon Whiskey
Koval boasts a “grain-to-bottle mentality” and monitors the entire “spirit-making process.” The company uses local farmers to grow its grain, mills, and mashes on-site, and distills, bottles, and packages its product, too. It can track all of its spirits’ raw materials to the organic farmers it uses. This bourbon is organic and made of 51-percent corn. Be sure to check out the brand’s other sustainable liquors, too.
Whiskey
Image from Whistle Pig’s Facebook page
Whistle Pig Straight Rye Whiskey
Whistle Pig has operated in an old barn since 2010. It wasn’t until 2013 that the company harvested its first rye crop, but once it did, the company’s rye whiskey was well received. The company is based in Shoreham, Vermont, and its farm, which produces the whiskey’s rye, is sustainably maintained. Whistle Pig’s rye grows densely, which keeps weeds at bay and makes the farm’s need for herbicides quite small. Rye also enjoys soil-based nitrogen, which makes “heavy fertilization unnecessary.” The company currently carries three whiskies.
Brandy
Image of brandy from company’s Facebook page
Catoctin Creek Fruit Brandies
The company makes a pear, peach, and apple brandy. All of the brandies are made with 100 percent local fruits that are sourced from farms and orchards throughout Virginia. The small batches are made in copper pot stills and aged in white-oak casks. In 2013, Creek installed a 41kWh solar array from Prospect Solar, which allows the distillery to offset 85 percent of it electrical usage. All of the company’s products are vegan and organic, too.
Gin
Facebook image from Peak Spirits’ page
CapRock Colorado Organic Gin
This gin features a complex blend of 12 different fruits, flowers, spices, and seeds. The “base spirit” of this concoction features certified organic Jonathan apples that are grown at a local farm (Ela Family Farms) and a “certified organic Romanian winter wheat distillate.” This gin benefits from the use of dry botanicals. The company also makes vodka and brandies.
Rum
Image from Don Q’s Facebook page
Don Q Rum
Don Q Rum boasts a clean finish and a clean production process. The company has an environmentally friendly distillery, which features include a waste reclamation program. The program is dedicated to maximize production capacity while providing “valuable energy return and cost reductions in the form of Biogas, electricity, service water, and industrial products that we can sell to other businesses.” The company carries eight different rums.
Ginever
Image of Ginever from the Wigle’s Facebook page
Wigle Organic Ginever
This Dutch-style gin is the “original gin.” According to Wigle Whiskey, “For the first 600 years of gin making, Gin was made from whiskey in a copper pot still.” This Genever is made from a grain mash of rye, wheat, malted barley, and botanicals. This handcrafted spirit is a small-batch creation and is made with organic ingredients and local, heirloom grains.
Mezcal
Image from the company’s Facebook page
Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal
Del Maguey is dedicated to creating product that’s organic. In fact, the company is so dedicated to that, it became one of the first mezcal producers to achieve OCIA and USDA certification. And its tagline is: “Made by farmers, not factories.” While the company produces great product, it’s also dedicated to the biodiversity and cultural heritage of Oaxaca. The company considers the sustainability of each village the company produces in. The company offers nine Mezcals.
Aperitive, Liqueur
Image from the company’s website
Grand Poppy Organic Aperitive
Greenbar Craft Distillery makes a lot of sustainable liquors, but it’s its aperitive that caught our eye. The company’s Grand Poppy aperitive is a “California-inspired take on classic European aperitives.” It’s made from citrus that hails from southern California farms, coastal herbs and berries, and the California poppy. The company practices sustainability by using certified organic ingredients and reducing packaging. It also plants one tree per bottle sold, and allows third parties to examine the company’s internal doings.
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Liquor image from Shutterstock