You might be a liquor connoisseur or a staunch teetotaler, however you consume buzzy beverages, it's time you get the low-down on conscious cocktail-making. A practice that’s not only good old-fashioned (pardon the pun) fun, but kinder to the planet is something that’ll lift everyone’s spirits.

Now that we’ve spent a great deal of time in our home kitchens learning how to cook sustainably and compost properly, let’s turn our attention to that other thing we’ve been perfecting over the last few years. At-home bartending could be an Olympic sport by now, making it even more prudent to consider just how much your famous espresso martini is costing the planet.

What’s in it for the environment? Zero waste cocktails are that much more in touch with the earth is all about minimising the needless use of natural resources, conserving energy, and using any natural ingredient to its full potential. There is yin and yang to be found in nature and cocktails!

 

NIDRA - cocktails with a conscious

 

And, while we know that no cocktail can always be 100% sustainable (they’re meant to be a treat… right?), there’s a lot to be said for taking the steps to reduce the impact. Just like these ones:

 

Sustainable brands 

Along with the rise of alcohol-free spirits (if you want your Sunday mornings a little more sustainable), there are plenty of environmentally friendly beers, wines, and spirits to choose from, making your Saturday sundowners easier on the environment. When it comes to creating cocktails, we love Manly Spirits, Antipodes Gin, the Natural Distilling Co, Husk Distillers for the rum lovers, and you must try the 78 Degrees Sunset Gin. And for the non-drinkers, Lyre’s replicates the taste of spirits, with none of the aftermath.

 

Grow Your Own Ingredients

Simple, when growing your own ingredients you only cut the herbs you need to use as opposed to having to buy a whole pre-cut pack. Don’t forget, as soon as herbs are picked, they begin to lose flavour and wilt…

 

NIDRA - Cocktails with a conscious

 

Skip the straws

For the people in the back, no plastic straws, mmk? Ditch the single-use straws, and look sophisticated while you’re at it with brassy and classy stainless steel sippers. The perfect fit for your center-piece cocktails, the metal straws are ideal for every kind of cocktail, from spritzers to highballs and gin and tonics.

 

Oleo-saccharum

Huh!? Before your eyes glaze over this marvelous word, oleo-saccharum simply means sugared oil. It’s produced by coating citrus and other oil-rich fruits in sugar and allowing it to macerate. Over 24 hours the sugars will draw out the oils from the fruits creating a sweet oily syrup. You can do this with lime and lemon peels, which make a sweet, citric, and oily syrup. Or with leftover banana skins to create a banana skin syrup.

 

NIDRA - Cocktails with a conscious

 

Dehydration

Remember, that being a zero-waste hero means all your cocktail garnishes need to be edible. Dehydrating fruit will last you a lifetime of edible garnishes, and let’s face it, they’re an Instagram dream. This helps if you have a dehydrator but you can always use an oven on low heat to dehydrate fruits.

 

Don’t forget to drink responsibly, and sleep consciously!