Getting into the right Christmas spirit this holiday…
The EAUC-Scotland Team are delighted to share with you a few of our favourite ways of getting into the Christmas sprit while reducing our impact. Slàinte!
Arbikie Highland Estate Nàdar Gin – 43%
Developed in 2020 after 5 years of research, Nàdar (‘nature’ in Gaelic) Gin claims to be the world’s first “climate positive” gin. Instead of using wheat as a base for distilling, this gin uses garden peas – as a result, emissions associated with synthetic fertilisers are avoided due to the nitrogen-fixing ability of peas. Once the peas have been used and become a waste product they are then still able to be used as an animal feed. The result? It’s claimed each bottle of Nàdar Gin saves 1.54kg CO2e.
Prefer a vodka base to your cocktails? Don’t worry. Arbikie Highland Estate has now launched its climate positive Nàdar Vodka.
Toast Ale – 0.5 – 5.6%
Toast Ale is on a mission: to create great tasting beers that tackle climate change, improve our food systems and get people talking.
The UK on average throws away 24 million slices of bread each day. This is a huge amount of waste not just in terms of food, but also biodiversity and soil loss (due to pesticides and farming techniques), climate change (wasted organic matter produces methane) and food insecurity (inefficient systems raise prices). This is where Toast Ale come in.
Toast Ale is an award-winning craft beer brewed with surplus fresh bread that would otherwise be wasted. In addition to being a registered B-Corp, all profits made from sales go to Feedback, a campaign group working to regenerate nature and lives by transforming our food system. To date, almost 2.5 millions slices of bread have been saved, £63,000 donated for Feedback, and 2.4 million cans, bottles and glasses raised. Ranked joint second on Ethical Consumer Magazine for beers, you can’t go wrong!
Go on, give a Toast this Christmas.
Buck & Birch: Wild Food & Drink Innovators
“Foragers, Fermenters and Philosophers. Feeders of the Hungry + Nourishers of the Soul.”
Founded in 2008 and based in East Lothian, Buck & Birch first started with two questions: could they create a menu using only ingredients foraged from the landscape? And, would diners care and connect? Over the next 14 years Buck & Birch have served hundreds of guests and brought to life the variety and quality of wild foods available today in our landscape.
Luckily for us Buck & Birch didn’t just stop at the plate – they got creative with flavouring spirits too. The result? Five different liqueurs and spirits to satisfy the taste buds. From Aelder Elixer (17%) which blends elderberries and other foraged botanicals with Scotch whisky; to Amarosa (20%) which infuses rosehips with rum for those lovers of rum and vermouth; to BIRCH (39.6%) where pure spirit partners with raw birch sap and further seasoned with wild birch flavours harvested through the year.
So if you were looking for a walk on the wild side this winter, look no further.
Black Isle Brewing Co – 3.5% + (core beer range)
Going from strength to strength, Black Isle Brewing Company has never left its core calling: making world class organic beer.
Situated on a 130-acre organic farm just north of Inverness, Black Isle Brewing supports local organic farmers by buying crops for the brewing process alongside crops grown on their own farm. They have also worked to increase biodiversity on their land through planting over 7000 native broadleaf trees, reinstating hedgerows, and creating wetlands and ponds.
It doesn’t stop there. Black Isle Brewing Company have also signed the SME Climate Commitment ahead of COP26, pledging reduce the breweries greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2045.
With all its core beers 100% organic and vegan, and Goldfinch also gluten-free, there’s something for everyone.
Cairn O’Mohr – 0 – 12.5%
We all know the best laid plans are made whilst playing poker on a mosquito-ridden river boat chugging through the mangroves of Panama. You didn’t? Well, us neither until we came across Cairn O’Mohr. But that’s what happened when founders Ron and Judith Gillies met and since 1987 have been making fruit wines, now in the heart of Perthshire.
The core alcoholic and non-alcoholic sparkling wine range features Strawberry, Raspberry, Bramble, Elderflower and Oak Leaf. This has been expanded to accommodate spare fruit from local farmers and seasonal experiments, resulting in blends such as Cheery Currant or Mulled Elderberry.
Wine not your thing? You can also find a great range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic ciders including a 100% Scottish Apple Cider.
So because you care, Cairn O’Mohr!
Arbikie Highland Estate Nàdar Gin – 43%
Developed in 2020 after 5 years of research, Nàdar (‘nature’ in Gaelic) Gin claims to be the world’s first “climate positive” gin. Instead of using wheat as a base for distilling, this gin uses garden peas – as a result, emissions associated with synthetic fertilisers are avoided due to the nitrogen-fixing ability of peas. Once the peas have been used and become a waste product they are then still able to be used as an animal feed. The result? It’s claimed each bottle of Nàdar Gin saves 1.54kg CO2e.
Prefer a vodka base to your cocktails? Don’t worry. Arbikie Highland Estate has now launched its climate positive Nàdar Vodka.
Toast Ale – 0.5 – 5.6%
Toast Ale is on a mission: to create great tasting beers that tackle climate change, improve our food systems and get people talking.
The UK on average throws away 24 million slices of bread each day. This is a huge amount of waste not just in terms of food, but also biodiversity and soil loss (due to pesticides and farming techniques), climate change (wasted organic matter produces methane) and food insecurity (inefficient systems raise prices). This is where Toast Ale come in.
Toast Ale is an award-winning craft beer brewed with surplus fresh bread that would otherwise be wasted. In addition to being a registered B-Corp, all profits made from sales go to Feedback, a campaign group working to regenerate nature and lives by transforming our food system. To date, almost 2.5 millions slices of bread have been saved, £63,000 donated for Feedback, and 2.4 million cans, bottles and glasses raised. Ranked joint second on Ethical Consumer Magazine for beers, you can’t go wrong!
Go on, give a Toast this Christmas.
Buck & Birch: Wild Food & Drink Innovators
“Foragers, Fermenters and Philosophers. Feeders of the Hungry + Nourishers of the Soul.”
Founded in 2008 and based in East Lothian, Buck & Birch first started with two questions: could they create a menu using only ingredients foraged from the landscape? And, would diners care and connect? Over the next 14 years Buck & Birch have served hundreds of guests and brought to life the variety and quality of wild foods available today in our landscape.
Luckily for us Buck & Birch didn’t just stop at the plate – they got creative with flavouring spirits too. The result? Five different liqueurs and spirits to satisfy the taste buds. From Aelder Elixer (17%) which blends elderberries and other foraged botanicals with Scotch whisky; to Amarosa (20%) which infuses rosehips with rum for those lovers of rum and vermouth; to BIRCH (39.6%) where pure spirit partners with raw birch sap and further seasoned with wild birch flavours harvested through the year.
So if you were looking for a walk on the wild side this winter, look no further.
Black Isle Brewing Co – 3.5% + (core beer range)
Going from strength to strength, Black Isle Brewing Company has never left its core calling: making world class organic beer.
Situated on a 130-acre organic farm just north of Inverness, Black Isle Brewing supports local organic farmers by buying crops for the brewing process alongside crops grown on their own farm. They have also worked to increase biodiversity on their land through planting over 7000 native broadleaf trees, reinstating hedgerows, and creating wetlands and ponds.
It doesn’t stop there. Black Isle Brewing Company have also signed the SME Climate Commitment ahead of COP26, pledging reduce the breweries greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2045.
With all its core beers 100% organic and vegan, and Goldfinch also gluten-free, there’s something for everyone.
Cairn O’Mohr – 0 – 12.5%
We all know the best laid plans are made whilst playing poker on a mosquito-ridden river boat chugging through the mangroves of Panama. You didn’t? Well, us neither until we came across Cairn O’Mohr. But that’s what happened when founders Ron and Judith Gillies met and since 1987 have been making fruit wines, now in the heart of Perthshire.
The core alcoholic and non-alcoholic sparkling wine range features Strawberry, Raspberry, Bramble, Elderflower and Oak Leaf. This has been expanded to accommodate spare fruit from local farmers and seasonal experiments, resulting in blends such as Cheery Currant or Mulled Elderberry.
Wine not your thing? You can also find a great range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic ciders including a 100% Scottish Apple Cider.
So because you care, Cairn O’Mohr!
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