Be merry, with organic booze

Organic produce is now big business. This emerging market was worth an estimated £2 billion in the UK last year, and it’s growing by the week.

And it’s not just vegetables and meat, either; some of us are even partial to a glass of organic wine.

But organic gin or vodka? The Organic Spirits Company is a family firm that has developed a range of gin, vodka, whisky and rum.

Using organic raw materials – grain for whisky, gin and vodka, sugar cane for rum – it’s then relatively straightforward to produce an organic finished product, although the company’s Juniper Green gin also uses organic botanical ingredients, including juniper berries, coriander, angelica root and savory.

But why should we drink it? ‘We take

a very high-quality organic grain and distil it with much milder, organically certified yeast,’ says director Alex Parker.

‘That initial distillation is much less harsh than most commercial distillation.’

So is it healthier? ‘Yes. Spirits are made up of many different chemicals and this has less of the stuff that gives you a hangover. However, it’s difficult to prove that you get less of a hangover.’

So there’s a health argument– but that’s not much use if it doesn’t taste good.

Parker points out that Juniper Green has won five consecutive medals at the International Wine And Spirit Competition, in blind tastings conducted by industry experts.

‘If you imagine the difference in taste between a beautifully ripe organic tomato and a non-organic, picked-early-and-ripened one, it’s that much better.

That freshness, that vibrancy comes through in the spirit.’

Jem Gardener, managing director of specialist organic supplier Vinceremos, highlights another reason for drinking organic: ‘Most people buy organic products because they want to support that sort of agriculture.’

It’s difficult to argue with that. Health benefits? Hard to prove and too much booze won’t do you any favours, organic or not.

Taste? There does seem to be a fresh, clean character to organic spirits, but that could be as much to do with the skill of the distiller as the raw materials. The best advice? Just try it for yourself.