In honour of World Cocktail Day (yes, that's a thing), we're sharing our top tips for sustainable cocktail making at home, PLUS our top 5 sustainable bars in London.
Our top tips for making cocktails sustainably at home!
Go seasonal
Each season gives us fresh flavours. Find small local producers and shop locally for your garnishes. Bring our mesh bags to carry your produce and ditch the single-use plastic bags. Or, if you fancy a new hobby, why not start your own herb, fruit or veg garden with compost made from your organic waste and watered with rainwater from your roof?
BONUS TIP: Don't let anything go to waste. Use up every part of your fruit by freezing juice or zest for later, and candy the peel!
And for gin lovers, Sipsmith is a B Corp certified distillery, worth a look if you want to support brands working to higher social and environmental standards.
Be plastic free!
Try to make your cocktails without any plastic. That means buying mixers in recyclable glass bottles and swapping plastic straws and stirrers for metal ones. If you're using a shaker, choose a reusable metal one, or use a jam jar or reusable coffee cup instead.
Dry them out
Dehydrated fruit makes ideal cocktail garnishes. Drying significantly increases the shelf life of perishable fruit and reduces food waste. Just be mindful of energy use: air-drying or using a low oven while it's already on for something else is kinder than running an inefficient appliance for hours.
Shop vintage!
Our last tip is to use the glassware you already have, or shop vintage! We all like our cocktails to look pretty, but there's no need to buy a fresh set of glasses. Make use of the beautiful vintage glassware that's already out there, and keep it out of landfill!
Looking to go out for cocktails? Here were our top 5 sustainable bars in London
This list was put together in May 2022, so check with each venue before you visit.
1. Midnight Apothecary
They have their own vegetable patch and herb garden where they grow ingredients to infuse their cocktails.
2. The Spread Eagle
London's first fully vegan pub, with an emphasis on minimal waste across its food and drinks, and even plant-based interior fixtures.
3. Long Arm Pub
This pub brews its own craft beer using a closed-loop system: spent brewing grains feed fish, and their waste fertilises an on-site garden growing herbs, fruit and vegetables.
4. The Duke of Cambridge
Britain's first organic pub, serving biodynamic wines and botanical spirits, with interiors kitted out in up-cycled furniture.
5. Quaglinos
A restaurant and bar with live music that has committed to going plastic free and keeping things low waste and responsibly sourced.
What's your favourite go-to cocktail?
