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Details on Making Alcohol and Green Cocktails
Making alcohol involves two processes: fermentation and distillation. Fermentation is a chemical reaction that occurs when yeast breaks down sugar; one result of this reaction is alcohol. Distillation is the process of evaporating the alcohol (which boils at a lower temperature than water) and collecting the steam before condensing it back into liquid form.
Square One Vodka is a great example of a distillery employing green practices. They use pure water from the Teton mountains and organic rye grown in North Dakota. They claim their product is so pure it requires only one distillation, and their distillery receives 25 percent of its electrical power from wind-generated sources. They have recently started purchasing carbon offsets and have been sponsors of several environmental events. Not only that, they are a female-owned company offering flextime, jobsharing and virtual office options to their employees.
Benromach Scotch whisky uses spring water from the nearby Romach Hills and organic Scottish barley and organic yeast. Interestingly enough, their oak casks are made of wood from environmentally managed forests in the United States. The very complex process of making whisky involves milling and mashing, fermenting and distilling before being casked and then later bottled.
Whisky (without the "e") refers exclusively to the distilled beverages that come from Scotland, Canada, and Japan — Scotch whisky, Canadian whisky and Japanese whisky (which is modeled after Scotch whisky). To be labeled as such, these beverages must conform to the Scotch Whisky Act of 1988 and the Canadian Whisky, Canadian Rye Whisky and Rye Whisky section of Canadian Food and Drug Regulations, respectively (the Japanese version gets a walk on this one).
Whiskey (with the "e") refers to the beverages from Ireland, Wales, India, America, and elsewhere (like France and Germany). American whiskies are broken down a bit further: the most common types are Bourbon whiskey, which must be made of at least 51 percent corn; Rye whiskey, which must be made of at least 51 percent rye; and Corn whiskey, which must be made from a mash of at least 80 percent corn.
Tequila is made from the blue agave plant which takes anywhere from 8 to 12 years to mature. The pina, which is the heart of the plant is comprised of pure starch. They are steamed in stone ovens for about 24 - 36 hours at temperatures ranging from 175 - 200 degrees F. Cooked pinas are then crushed in three pressing mills in order to extract the agave juice. It is then fermented from anywhere from two to twelve days, depending on the climate.
The word "gin" comes from the French genevrier, or juniper berry; as a beverage, gin is essentially an infused vodka. Organic Juniper Gin uses 100% organic grain, pure water and organic juniper berries, coriander angelica root and savory.
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