Sustainable cocktails THE FUTURE?

In every industry, it's pretty much the hottest topic right now, but what does the S-word mean when it comes to cocktail-making? Leading experts give us their take and share eco-conscious recipes to replicate at home

- ALICIA MILLER

Ditching the plastic straws. Taking out the recycling. Beyond the basics, though, what are today's top bars doing to minimise their eco-footprints? We spoke to four representatives from forward-thinking bars to see what sustainable cocktail-making looks like in their trailblazing venues.

There's no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to making green(er) drinks, but there are some common practices and themes that are being embraced. Could the below provide a blueprint for the sustainable mixology of the future?

THOUGHTFUL SOURCING

Let's start with the obvious: to make sustainable cocktails you need to use sustainable ingredients. But determining a product's sustainability credentials can be tricky, particularly when you start to factor in packaging, shipment and production methods.

A good rule of thumb is to stick to in-season, local ingredients wherever possible. 'Cocktails have finally caught up with the same localism and hyper-seasonality that kitchens have been practising for years,' says James Pritchard of Silo, a zero-waste restaurant and bar in east London. 'It used to be that you could order a cocktail with fresh strawberries in it during the high points of winter. That seems to have changed now.'

Giacomo Giannotti of 2022 World's Best Bar-winner Paradiso in Barcelona agrees. 'We are going back to the roots, using the main fruit and vegetable ingredients from that time of year.'

‘Sustainable sourcing is as much about what’s not being used as what is’