An organic lifestyle can extend even to your favorite cocktails.
By Rod Smith
Have a drink and save the world! Oh, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? The bad news is that saving the world isn’t quite that easy (or fun). But check out the good news: Drinking certain spirits might well be healthier for both the imbiber and the environment.
In the current mad rush toward uber-green attitudes and practices, it was perhaps inevitable that even those things that some regard as vices would become eco-friendly. Organic free-trade coffee, for example, is making caffeine junkies feel a little better about their addiction.
Now, those of us who like to imbibe a little top-notch vodka, gin, or whiskey now and then (or just now, right now) can jump on the green bandwagon, too. Organic and sustainably produced spirits give new meaning to the concept of responsible drinking.
This new subset of the luxury spirits market came to my attention, as these things often do, via public relations channels. In this case, it was a press release for Square One vodka, distilled from organic rye in Idaho. Duly noted — and promptly forgotten. But the same week, some friends invited us to a barbecue at their organic apple farm. They got the party going with gin and tonics featuring Bluecoat Gin, which is flavored with organic botanicals (their limes were organic, and their tonic was Q, a small-production tonic sweetened with organic agave syrup).
Twice in one week? My trend radar began to ping like crazy.
GOOD FOR YOUR SPIRITS
Sure enough, when I started nosing (and drinking) around, top-shelf organic spirits seemed to be everywhere. Square One really was just the start. Sunshine Vodka from Green Mountain Distillers, for example, is quadruple-distilled (presumably a plus, as most vodkas are triple-distilled) from organic grain and Vermont spring water. Vodka 14 pays tribute to the snowmelt water that flows from Rocky Mountain peaks towering over 14,000 feet. Rain vodka is distilled in Illinois from organic corn, while Snow Queen Vodka is produced from organic grain in Kazakhstan’s Ala Tau mountains. Invergordon, Reyka, Liquid Ice, and other organic vodkas all make similar claims.
Bluecoat gin is made in Philadelphia using organic juniper berries, citrus, and other botanicals, although it isn’t clear that the base spirit is made from organic grain. However, it is hand-distilled in an old-school copper pot still, which gives it artisan credibility. And, it’s darn good — an old-school dry gin with stiff juniper flavor but also some New Worldish exotic overtones. Juniper Green Organic Gin, from London, is made with organic grain and infused with organic coriander, angelica root, and savory.
There is an organic tequila called 4 Copas. I also happen to know that my favorite tequila, Herradura, is made from organically grown agave, although it’s not marketed as such. Papagayo Organic Rum is distilled from organic sugarcane at a grower-owned cooperative distillery in Paraguay. Organic malt whiskeys include Benromach, Highland Harvest, and Springbank Distillery’s Da Mhile.
Not surprisingly, most of the new organic spirits seem to be vodkas, no doubt due to vodka’s simplicity. It has only two ingredients — grain and/or potatoes, and water. Gin, of course, starts out as vodka but is then infused with botanicals (herbs, fruits, nuts, etc.). Gin is more difficult to produce organically because obtaining so many ingredients from diverse sources — more than a dozen botanicals in some gins — can get downright complicated.
Organic grain turns out to be virtuous, indeed. Apparently, it has a denser cell structure, which makes for a cleaner distillation, possibly because the presence of naturally occurring microorganisms (which haven’t been killed off by pesticides) fosters a more complete fermentation that converts every available scrap of nutrient into pure alcohol. It also has fewer carbohydrates, creating a leaner, tighter flavor profile that may enhance the perfumes and flavors of flavoring agents.
IS ORGANIC REALLY BETTER?
OK — but really, why drink organically? The arguments in favor are a little different from those for eating organic foods. The first question in my mind when I heard about Square One vodka (to my knowledge the first all-organic commercial spirit on the market) was obvious: Does it taste better? It’s a fine vodka, to be sure, pure and balanced with a satisfying weight on the palate and a clean, dry finish. I’d place it in the first class of luxury spirits, but couldn’t say that it clearly outclasses the competition.
So the flavor argument isn’t as strong for spirits as for eating organic foods. Most people can taste a real difference between organic potatoes, tomatoes, and corn, and their pesticide-grown, genetically engineered equivalents. Organic veggies and fruits simply taste better, but in my experience so far that doesn’t necessarily translate to spirits.
Likewise, organic veggies are also more nutritious and don’t convey toxic residues. But organic spirits aren’t really about personal health, either. We certainly don’t drink cocktails for nutrition. And chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers generally evaporate at higher temperatures than alcohol and so get left behind in the “mash.” Admittedly, the jury is still lingering a bit on that point. A 1996 study published by the American Chemical Society reported that some fungicides and pesticides were detected in distilled spirits, and there is some evidence (reported by the FDA in 1988) that chemical by-products synthesized by plants may contribute to the formation of the known carcinogen ethyl carbamate, which regulations allow up to 125 parts per billion in spirits. However, the amount by volume is negligible, so the idea of ingesting chemicals is probably more troublesome than the substances themselves.
But that idea is significant. Wouldn’t we all like to know that the things we consume are pristine? Perhaps the salient point, then, is that whether or not chemicals can taint a distilled spirit, there’s no question that non-sustainable farming practices pollute and damage our environment. That might be the most convincing argument in favor of organic spirits. Even those of us who feel that environmental issues have been unduly politicized can generally agree that the world would be a better place without toxic chemical pollution. That alone gives an edge to organically grown products when there is a choice to be made.
WHICH WAY TO GO?
My friends and I discussed these issues while sipping Bluecoat gin and tonics in the shade of their organic apple trees. Our conclusion went something like this: America is a truly economic as well as political democracy. We vote every day with our hard-earned cash, and every dollar spent tells somebody, somewhere, that what they’re doing is profitable.
A vote for organic and sustainable products is a vote against the proliferation of pesticides and other chemicals in our watersheds, against genetically modified food crops, against farming practices that destroy the soil. It sends a signal to the agricultural community that doing the right thing can be profitable. And given that the average bottle price of high-end spirits is around $35, spending those bucks on an organic gin or vodka sends a stronger signal than buying a sack of organic spuds.
Having said that, I must admit that to me, taste trumps policy most of the time. If organic produce didn’t taste better, I probably wouldn’t be so eager to buy it. To me, a cocktail is something special, something to be savored and fully appreciated. I’m a moderate drinker and I want every sip to count. So I continue to spend my spirits allowance on my taste buds rather than idealism, which means that my liquor cabinet is far from green.
Yet it does nag at me a little to know that my favorite whiskey or rum may be produced from genetically modified corn or sugarcane, grown with pesticides and chemical fertilizer. So when a fine vodka like Square One or a lovely gin like Bluecoat is available, I buy it.
Am I striking a blow for the future, or just soothing myself? We certainly can’t save the world by having a drink. But now, drinking organically can make us feel a little better about it.
Rod Smith has received two James Beard Foundation journalism awards for writing about wine and spirits. He lives with his family on a small farm north of San Francisco. Rod isn’t sure that having a drink can save the world, but he’s willing to give it a try.