Looking for a happy hour choice that’s as sustainable as it is delicious? Diplomatico Rum may be the answer.

This Venezuelan rum is made by one of the only liquor companies in the world to have earned the ISO 14001 certification, a prestigious recognition that helps provide practical tools for companies looking to develop their environmental responsibility. It doesn’t hurt that the rum is totally delicious too — we’re sure it’s going to become your new go-to liquor.

The Ecological Endeavors of Diplomatico Rum

In recent years, Diplomatico Rum has undertaken several endeavors to reduce its carbon footprint and increase its sustainability.

“As part of our company’s philosophy, respect and protection of the environment has always been one of our main goals,” explain Diplomatico representatives Mariana Calderón and Susana Curbelo. “From the beginning, DUSA (owner and producer of Diplomático Rum) established a system to manage its sub-products, to recycle its waste and to optimize its resources.”

“In 2009, the Board of Directors decided to support and sustain the company’s environmental policy by certifying its environmental management system under the ISO 14001 norm. This certification remains in effect and is renewed every two years through annual audits.”

The efforts that help sustain this certification can be broken down into three categories.

1. Recycling Lingering Water

Lingering water from rum production is not wasted. Instead, it is recycled into a compost for sugar cane, as Calderón and Curbelo explain. “After being treated, the liquid waste is used as an organic fertilizer for the cultivation of sugar cane and grass, minimizing nutrient requirements.” This choice helps Diplomatico Rum participate in replenishing the local ecosystem.

2. Salvaging Solid Waste

Diplomatico Rum salvages 100 percent of its solid waste for recycling. This includes all plastic, cardboard, and glass waste, meaning that all packaging materials used for the rum are recycled.

3. Giving Back to the Community

Diplomatico also partakes in several local outreach programs to give back to the community. “As part of the company’s pollution prevention program and voluntary corporate social responsibility, every year we implement recovery activities along rivers and forests of the Simon Planas municipality (where the distillery is located),” Calderón and Curbelo explain. Whether it’s planting fruit trees in the local forests or taking part in a two-day beach cleaning project, employees are encouraged to take part in these efforts to give back to the community that sustains the distillery.

“In general there are about 150 volunteer workers involved, and some of them go with their children, which promotes and builds environmental awareness for new generations,” Calderón and Curbelo explain.

Once you’ve tasted the product, these efforts become even easier to support. While Diplomatico Rum is delicious served simply over ice or mixed into a mojito, we’ve got two far more interesting ways to serve the spirit, straight from the source.

Photo Credit: Lauren Volo

The Flying Paloma by Tad Carducci

Ingredients

1.5 oz Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva
.5 oz. fresh lime
.5 oz. ginger liqueur
3 oz. grapefruit soda
pinch salt
wedge lime, for garnish

Directions

Add all of the ingredients, including the salt, to a tall glass filled with ice. Stir briskly and garnish with a wedge of lime.

Cherry Blossom Fizz, by Mixologist Rael Petit

Ingredients

1.5 oz Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva
0.5 oz simple syrup
0.5 oz cherry heering
1 oz lemon juice
2 dashes of orange blossom water
Champagne, to finish
fresh mint, for garnish

Directions

Shake all of the ingredients except the Champagne, and pour into a rock glass with ice. Top with Champagne, and garnish with mint.

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Images care of Diplomatico Rum

The post Diplomatico Rum: Your New Favorite Liquor is Sustainable and Delicious appeared first on EcoSalon.

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

The post Sustainable Liquor Every Green Booze Hound Needs appeared first on EcoSalon.