I’m feeling a little guilty about my posting last week, When Life Gives You Raspberries, Add Vodka. No guilt on the idea of blending raspberries and vodka, it’s just I recommended “cheap vodka” as an ingredient for the Raspberry Cordial recipe. Shame on me. There’s no point in praising the glories of local, organic raspberries and then regress to mixing them with no name, no good sustainable karma vodka just to save a buck.
Turns out I have better options, thanks to the burgeoning rise of “micro-distilleries.” Over 100 of these small, independent, locally owned distilleries can be found across the county and continue to pop up at the rate of ten to twenty a year. Turns out one of these sits just north of my farm in Madison, Wisconsin: Yahara Bay Distillers, making small batches of vodka, white rum and other spirits using local ingredients from family-run farms ideally within 100 miles.
“A year ago I couldn’t spell distillery, now I’m making the stuff,” confesses owner Nick Quint with a smile. Unlike wineries and breweries, small micro-distilleries can get up and running with a much lower investment and learning curve. “Folks are drinking less but drinking better and they want to be aware of what they’re drinking, and that’s where local spirits fit in. People want to slow down and consciously enjoy a quality cocktail.”
I’m convinced. But just to set me permanently straight on why I shouldn’t fall for cheap vodka again, Quint offers these three reasons to seek out micro-distilleries:
1. Small Batches
“Because we just make small batches of our spirits, the process can be much more hands on and assure higher quality,” explains Quint. “I personally watch each batch and take out the ‘head’ or the ‘tail’ of each batch, which may contain acetone or methanol.
2. Local Ingredients
Micro-distillers can prioritize local ingredients, often creating spirits based specifically on what’s available from area farms. Quint is collaborating with an area farmer to use local rutabagas in their vodka.
3. Less Transport
By eliminating shipping and transportation costs, fewer fossils are used.
Photo Credit: Lisa Kivirist
Lisa Kivirist
Lisa Kivirist embodies the growing “ecopreneuring” movement: innovative entrepreneurs who successfully blend business with making the world a better place. Lisa is co-author, with her husband, John Ivanko, of Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life, capturing the American dream of farm living for contemporary times. Her latest release, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet Before Profits is a compact, dynamic tool kit for a fresh approach to entrepreneurial thinking, blending passion for protecting and preserving the planet with small business pragmatics. As a W.K. Kellogg Food & Society Policy Fellow and Director of the Rural Women's Project, Lisa champions a voice for women farmers and rural ecopreneurs through media, speaking and advocacy work. Lisa runs the award-winning Inn Serendipity Bed and Breakfast in southwest Wisconsin, completely powered by renewable energy and considered amongst the “Top Ten Eco-Destinations in North America.” Her culinary focus on local and seasonal cuisine – with most ingredients traveling less than 100 feet from her organic gardens to B&B plates – earned recognition in publications from Vegetarian Times to Country Woman and inspired her cookbook, Edible Earth: Savoring the Good Life with Vegetarian Recipes from Inn Serendipity. In addition to feature writing for publications such as Hobby Farm Home, Mother Earth News and Wisconsin Trails, Lisa is the lead writer for Renewing the Countryside, a non-profit organization showcasing rural entrepreneurial and agricultural success stories. Lisa also penned Kiss Off Corporate America: A Young Professional’s Guide to Independence. Lisa shares her farm with her husband, their young son, a 10kw wind turbine and a colony of honeybees.
3 Responses to Local Spirits: Rise of the Conscious Cocktail
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[...] house recipe – but feel free to adapt with ingredients you have around. Think about using some local spirits, when [...]
I dont drink much spirits anymore (I’m more of a wine girl) but I will definately keep this in my next time I want to restock my cabinet.
For additional information in eco-spirits, checkout my post, Eco Vodka: Organic and Sustainable Spirits, http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/08/22/eco-vodka/.