Did you enjoy the long weekend a little too much? Outside holidays—think Labor Day, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July—are typically filled with amazing BBQ, backyard beer, and summery cocktails. And while all of that is well and good, you may be wishing that you pre-, during-, and post-gamed it a bit better.

Well, even though you botched your recovery this time, we’ve got a few tips that will help you engage in day-drinking like a champ come your next outdoor, mid-day shindig.

1. Drink like a fish… water, that is

Now, you say you know this is important, but once you start drinking, this simple fact often gets too easily forgotten. My trick—and anyone who has ever day-drank and regretted it—is to chug a glass of water in-between drinks. Still think you’ll forget? Set an alarm that goes off every 30 minutes. Sure, your friends may think you’re crazy, but they’ll be wishing they had your brilliant insight the day after.

2. Eat, for your health!

Before you ingest your first drink, eat a healthy meal. We posted about the healthy benefits of this breakfast a while ago. As the day goes on, make sure to continue to eat, but instead of eating, like, three hamburgers, consider eating a veggie burger at 1 p.m., some vegan potato salad at 3 p.m., a fruit salad at 5 p.m., and some healthy snacks as the evening marches on.

3. Pick your drink

If you know how a certain type of alcohol effects you, stick to it and sip slowly. Also: consider bringing some craft, low alcohol beer. Lots of breweries now sell session beers meant for all-day-drinking. If you prefer liquor, Style Caster suggests sticking to vodka, gin, and tequila that’s not cheap—no one wants a hangover from cheap booze. All of these liquors are clear, which could help you skip your possible hangover, too.

4. Nap

Your friends will still love you if you have to take a power-nap, mid-day. If you start to feel a little groggy during the day, go inside, drink a glass of water, and nap. If you wake-up feeling refreshed and ready to go, head back to the party. Feel bad? Go home and sleep it off. There’s no shame in listening to your body.

5. Prep for the morning after

Even if you hydrate like a champ, you’ll probably experience some type of hangover the next day. To help mitigate that, make sure your kitchen is filled with lemons, coconut water, and bananas. When you arrive home—via foot, Uber, or DD—have some lemon water, a banana, and a pain killer. After you pre-sleep hydrate, get a lot of shuteye. When you wake-up, have some coconut water, and oatmeal with sliced banana. After your morning hydration sesh, you should start to feel better.

Related on EcoSalon
10 Delicious, Light, and Fun Labor Day Recipes
4 Summer Cocktail Recipes (Cool Down and Buzz Up All Season Long)
Climate Change Might Make Earth Beer Heaven: 24 Breweries Take Action on the Climate Declaration

Image of friends day-drinking via Shutterstock

The post How to Recover From Day-Drinking Like the Goddess You Are appeared first on EcoSalon.

As you explore types of wine you may find yourself wondering what exactly natural wine is.

When it comes to wine, there’s a lot out there. There are reds, whites, rosés, bubbles, and within those a whole variety of grape varietals and tastes. But nowadays we’re starting to see even more classification, with wines getting labeled as organic or biodynamic. Navigating the wine world can feel intimidating.

While most people nowadays are used to hearing the words “organic” and “biodynamic” attached to both their food and their wine, there is another vino category that may not have heard mention of: natural wines.

But wait, aren’t all wines technically natural?

Produced from grapes, yes. And this may be what has made the discussion of natural wines so polemic, because if some wines are referred to as natural wines, it puts all other wines in the “not natural” category.

So what are natural wines? First off, unlike with organic or biodynamic wine, there is no certification for natural wines, and therefore no official definition. Natural wines are wines made with as little human interference – that means chemical and technological – as possible. In other words, wine made with grapes and little else, letting nature take care of the growing and the fermentation. Others refer to natural wines as “nothing added, nothing taken away.”

As you can imagine, producing types of wine in this way takes a lot of work. As New York Times writer Eric Asimov wrote, “The fact is that making wine without benefit of chemicals or other technological shortcuts demands precision and exactitude. Far more so, perhaps, than in conventional winemaking.”

Vines are grown organically, or even biodynamically, grapes are hand harvested and the fermentation process takes place in a way that’s as natural as possible. That means minimal to no additives during the winemaking process. Additives that are often used in the winemaking industry include sugar, acidifiers, and tannins. Even sawdust is used sometimes. Who wants to be drinking wine made with sawdust? Laboratory cultivated yeasts, instead of natural, indigenous yeasts, can also be used, and you can also encounter a variety of manipulations of the wine like micro-oxygenation to accelerate aging.

Natural wines are growing more and more popular among people who are concerned about sulfites as well. Sulfites refer to sulfur dioxide, which acts as a preservative in wine. While sulfites are naturally occurring in wine, winemakers can also add in sulfites during the winemaking process and natural winemakers will add little to no sulfites.

In the world of modern day agricultural, natural winemakers are challenging the traditional practices of modern, industrial winemaking, just like other men and women in the food industry devoted to the art of their craft, be it traditional bread baking or beer brewing.

What does this mean for you the drinker?

If you’re used to traditional, industrial wines, switching to natural wines is going to taste different. Natural winemakers have to depend on the natural elements – soil, weather, yeasts, etc. – to produce their wine, and instead of adding and manipulating wines which can help to stabilize a wine and standardize its flavor, their wines will taste as nature wants them to taste. That means that natural wines can often be a little less stable, murky because they haven’t gone through a filtration process, and you never know what you’re going to get. But that means that you get more of the terroir in a natural wine, and you get a wine that’s true to the natural fermentation process.

Just like traditional wine, not all natural wines are good, but there’s also an element of surprise that is special. Alice Feiring, a well-known source on natural wine, once said this in an interview with The Splendid Table:

One of the best examples that I have is when I was at a party, when Frank Bruni just came over to the states to be the dining critic at The New York Times. I said, “Hey, Frank, taste this.” He burst into laughter and he said, “Alice, what the hell is that? That is the most beautiful example I’ve ever had.” He went out and bought a case the next day. A conventional wine never can do that to you.

Think of it in terms of a tomato. When you buy a regular tomato at the grocery store, it’s a bit bland and you get a taste that you expect. Buy an in-season, heirloom tomato on the other hand and you’ll find yourself diving into a sea of flavors. Two different heirloom tomatoes can have two very different flavor profiles.

Where can you find natural wine?

Since natural wine isn’t a certification, for the consumer, it’s not always easy to find. Start with the back label, if you seen any indication of “made without additives” or “made with just grapes” that’s a good thing. It’s also helpful to find a knowledgeable wine seller who knows a thing or two about natural wines and can help point you in the right direction.

France is known for its natural wine culture, but now there are more and more natural winemakers in the U.S., including La Clarine Farm, Donkey and Goat, Kelley Fox Wines, Montebruno and Wind Gap.

If you are looking for natural wines from abroad, Jenny and Francois Selections are NY-based natural wine importers, and they are well known in the business. Natural Wine Company out of Brooklyn is another great resource.

Winelandia is a food and wine blog that last fall launched a retail component selling natural wines. Currently they only ship to California, but we can hope that eventually they will expand.

Related on EcoSalon

Discovering the Vins Naturels of France’s Loire Valley

Natural Wine S’il Vous Plait: Foodie Underground

3 Reasons Your Next Bottle of Wine Should Be Organic

Image: Anna Brones

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Is the image of boxed wine changing?

When you hear the words “boxed wine,” what comes to mind? While just a few years ago your brain may have immediately gone to Franzia (and the college-sized hangovers that came with it) the image of wine in a box in the U.S. has begun to grow up. Nowadays, its easier to get good wine in a box, which raises the question: is the American image of boxed wine about to change?

Jordan Salcito, the beverage director at NYC’s much talked about restaurant Momofuku, wrote an article for the Daily Beast, announcing that the restaurant would soon be serving a new Italian wine… from a box. She aptly titled her article “Taking Boxed Wine Seriously: It’s Not Just for Hobos and Teenagers Anymore.”

When a well-known restaurant in one of America’s food capitals starts serving wine from a box, you know that change is afoot.

While in the U.S., boxed wine has for years gotten a bad rap, in other parts of the world it is simply part of the wine culture. In fact boxed wine, otherwise known as bag-in-box, started in Australia in the 1960s, and while bottles have certainly entered the picture down under, boxes still makes up almost half of the country’s wine sales. You know who else loves boxed wines? The French.

So if other wine producing regions are loving boxed wine, why are we so behind?

Wine writer Talia Baiocchi wrote a couple of years ago that it all has to do with quality. “Still, the major obstacle for production of boxed wine here in America is one of quality; in order to see a legitimate revolution with this sort of packaging the wine has to actually be good. Much of the high quality boxed wines produced in Europe never make it to the states, and the wines that are boxed in this country come from industrial plonk producers simply because they’re the ones with the money and the access to filling machinery.”

Industrial plonk producers? No, thank you.

But it’s not just the quality that Americans have been upset by. It’s also the image. When we hear the words “boxed wine” we think of a huge, clunky box. Again, it all goes back to Franzia. But even that is changing. Thanks to Tetra Pack, you can now get 1-liter boxes of wine if you want to, and Tetra Pak boxes are made with 75 percent paper, much of which is Forest Stewardship Council certified.

When it comes to shipping costs, boxes win out over bottles, with a much lower carbon footprint. The environmental and economic reasons for putting wine in boxes instead of bottles has prompted some to call for American vintners to get on the boxed wine bandwagon.

And as the quality improves, we can hope that more and more American vintners do in fact get on board; because when it comes to truly sustainable drinking choices, you want to look for wines that are produced locally.

There are after all, plenty of bad boxed wines out there, and cheap ones can have a lot of additives. As with anything, know what you’re buying and where it came from. And next time someone serves you wine from a box, drink up. You’ll still be able to stay classy.

Related on EcoSalon:

30 Famous Quotes About Wine

Natural Wine, S’il Vous Plaît: Foodie Underground

3 Reasons Your Next Bottle Of Wine Should Be Organic

Image: Wikipedia Commons

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A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

Because you should never be without a to-go cup: now you can make your own from a mason jar. Just make sure you use a reusable straw. [Via Fine and Feathered]

It’s back-to-school season, but what does education look like in the rest of the world? This portrait slideshow takes us into classrooms from around the globe. [Via Brain Pickings]

Summer isn’t over until the fall equinox, and this healthy Mint Mojito Smoothie might just be the afternoon reminder that you need to embrace the late season. [Via Well+Good NYC]

Movies can be educational, which is why someone came up with this list of Lifetime movies for Republicans who don’t understand rape. [Via The Cut]

Minimalism is on trend right now. Even for Kuwaitis. [Via Dezeen]

Your drinking habits depend on the shape of your glass. [Via The Atlantic]

Our new dream house? A converted barn in France. [Via The Style Files]

On average, Americans eat 200 pounds of meat a year. That’s not just bad for our health, it’s also fueling the water crisis. [Via Mother Jones]

Trying to figure out how to live better in small spaces? You need the Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Feng Shui. [Via Greatist]

Image: Fine and Feathered

The post Link Love: How to Turn a Mason Jar Into a To-Go Cup, Kuwaiti Minimalism and Movies for Republicans Who Don’t Understand Rape appeared first on EcoSalon.

A few years in the hallowed halls of a prestigious university is becoming increasingly expensive.

As summer winds to a close, recent high school graduates all over the country will pack their bags and load up the cars for their first year in college. A college education might be necessary in order to launch a successful professional career, but paying for one has become difficult. We rounded up some data in the form of these 10 infographics for all the bright-eyed, eager-to-study youngsters in your life.

Is College Still Worth It?: Some stats on whether or not someone should go to college at all.

The Higher Education Bubble: Tuition’s ever-spiraling prices are reminiscent of the housing market, before the collapse.

Bowl Game Economics: College football is a big industry.

Self Learning: The New Master’s Degree: College is too expensive…but there’s always the Internet.

The Unprepared Nation: Many high school graduates are unprepared for postsecondary education.

Going to School, Drowning in Debt: Americans now owe more in student loan debt than the entire GDP of Australia.

5 Things I Wish I Knew Before College: It’s not really a surprise that many people wish they hadn’t partied away four years of expensive education.

The Truth About College Drinking: A good way to save money is to not spend as much on alcohol.

An Export of Students: A growing number of wealthy Chinese are sending their children to the United States for college.

How Do High School Grads Perceive College?: Even if most high school grads don’t intend to go directly to college, earning a college degree remains a common long-term goal.

Image: rexhammock.

The post 10 Infographics on Going to College appeared first on EcoSalon.

Let’s get social.

As we said in our recent Friday 5, drinks bring out the sociable sides in our personalities. In historical times feasts brought us together – nowadays it’s more likely to be an array of coffee flavors, or a bottle of something rich and cheeky. In celebration of the great bring-people-together power of beverages, we uncork our archives, take a sip and toast your good health.

Coffee reduces muscle pain. After a hard workout, a cup or two of coffee has been shown to reduce muscle soreness (in women, anyway) more effectively than naproxen, aspirin and ibuprofen. (But don’t replace your water thermos with coffee).

20 Surprising Facts About Coffee

Now hitting the shelves is ZICO pure coconut water. An all natural, 60-calorie alternative. ZICO contains the five essential electrolytes, magnesium, and more. One box of ZICO has more potassium than a banana (15 times more than most sports drinks) to prevent cramping and promote recovery.

A Natural Fitness Drink: Coconut Water

“You could consider me the goddess of organic wine because of my longevity,” says a tres enthusiastic Veronique Raskin of The Organic Wine Company in San Rafael, Calif. “I’ve been at it for 30 years so I should know a couple of things.”

The French native and head cheerleader for the benefits of organic helped uncork the notion of drinking naturally-farmed grape back in 1979. That’s when she brought the first shipment to the U.S. from her family’s 200 year-old vineyard, Bousquette, located in the Languedoc region which borders Provence in the south and produces one-third of France’s grapes.

The Trail to the Tastiest Organic Red Wines from a Certified Grape Goddess

It’s the future, a greener, more enlightened time. You drop in on your local coffee vendor – let’s call it McStarMart – ready for a cup of exquisitely roasted bean-juice to kick start your day. You’re standing quietly in the queue, and – something odd is going on.

People are reaching into their pockets and bags and briefcases, and they’re pulling out mugs of all shapes and kinds. When they reach the counter, they pass them to the barista, who fills them up with their beverage of choice.

There are no disposable cups.

In The Future, We All Carry Mugs

Not only does red wine make steak extra-flavorful, it may reduce cancer-causing compounds naturally found in meats. Frying and grilling meat at high temperatures turns sugars and amino acids of muscle tissue into carcinogenic compounds, but marinating steak in red wine for at least six hours before cooking can reduce two types of carcinogens by up to 90 percent. Use about a cup of red wine, a cup of olive oil and the seasonings of your choice like garlic, parsley and peppercorns.

20 Unusual Uses For Wine

I’m convinced mulled wine was invented as a handwarmer in the depths of winter. It first pops up in the history books around 400 CE, although its European medieval name of Hipocris harks back to Hippocrates, the Ancient Greek “father of medicine” – and it’s not hard to imagine Celtic Mead being dangled over the fire for an extra-warming kick. Nowadays, mulled wine is a popular winter drink across much of northern Europe. For example, in Sweden it goes by the splendid name of glögg.

Hot Wine? Mull It Over

Like other Swedes I’m used to buying glögg already spiced at the Systembolaget, which is the one and only company that can sell liquor in Sweden. Systembolaget has an impressive selection of wine from all around the world and they have over 40 different kinds of glögg, both with and without alcohol. There is even a white glögg which is commonly served cold as an apertif at parties around Christmas. With a selection that great it’s hard to even think of making your own unless you’re a Swede living abroad. Being one of those people, I started making my own and can’t ever imagine going back. At Christmas I want my own glögg. And the glögg has to be done with some drama by caramelizing the sugar.

Glogg: Swedish Traditional Mulled Wine

Images: PoYang, Vegan Feast Catering, Sarah Jane, Johanna Kindvall, photoskate and delphaber.

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Beer goggles. They are mysterious. Like Loch Ness or Sasquatch, some deny their existence. These deniers are usually women with impeccably pressed cotton shifts who don’t know the hell that is smeared mascara. But the rest of us know better.

These some, who shall remain nameless, may kick back a beer or five and wake up with a broken high heel and dim recollections of dancing on a bar. And they might admit to wearing beer goggles from time to time. Even though we (I mean, THEY) know that beer goggles are really just a product of our inebriated imaginations. Right?

Wrong! New evidence shows that beer goggles are real. Men and women in real-life white coats have performed experiments proving their existence. Discovery News recently reported that beer goggles are in fact a fact of nature. And apparently, it is all about the symmetry of the face.

Symmetry plays an important part in defining beauty. Experts point out that symmetry in the face is all about the human eye recognizing “averageness” – that is, someone like Angelina Jolie is considered très magnifique because she really just has a more symmetrical, average face. We’re all hard-wired to like symmetry, as our brains think symmetrical faces connote reproductive fitness. People with less symmetrical faces are thought by our evolutionary subconscious to have a poorer health background.

In other words, most of us are bee-bopping along looking for symmetrical “fit” faces. But what happens when we drink? Apparently, we throw evolutionary behavior down the tubes. A recent study reveals that drinking prevents us from detecting asymmetrical faces. Therefore, our inebriated eyes see people we might not soberly find attractive “¦ attractive. So if someone looks like a Picasso’s Woman with a Flower, if you drink they might look like Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Lewis Halsey of Roehampton University in London conducted this study on drunken attraction. With some colleagues, Halsey went over to some campus bars to take notes. They showed symmetrical and asymmetrical faces to drunk and sober students. The sober students were more able to detect symmetrical faces and showed greater preferences for them.

And the umbrella on our cocktail? Apparently women are more prone to beer goggles than men. Experts think this is because men tend to be more visually oriented than women and more stimulated by who they see.

And what will this mean to all of us who wake up next Fred Flintstone after going to bed with Brad Pitt? Yes, it really was our beer goggles. Now if we could only find a way to make them match our eye makeup.

Photo Source

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You would think that something as simple as ditching bottled water would be easy to make a regular habit. But as soon as we start traveling, our eco-friendly daily routine has a tendency to fall by the wayside, and water is a prime example.

Just because you can’t bring liquids through security check is no excuse for leaving your reusable water bottle at home; you’re certainly going to need it upon arrival. Worried about space? No one said you had to go with stainless steel.

You can also invest in a handy collapsible drinking vessel like the Soft Bottles from Platypus. They’re BPA-free and can go with you anywhere. Which means buying a bottle of water where potable tap water is readily available is no longer excusable.

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