The Conscientious Objector Helps You Stock the Local Bar
By Amanda Park Taylor
Drink. Mender of life’s ills, smoother of social discourse, soother of troubled minds. Unless, of course, you’re concerned about your carbon footprint, in which case your drinking habit may be keeping you up at night.
Great wines come from France, Italy and Spain, and champagne comes from, well, Champagne. Port comes from Portugal, and beer comes from everywhere, but seems to improve in quality the further away it’s brewed (sorry, I happen to find Japanese beers irresistible). London gin. Russian vodka. Korean soju. Scottish scotch. What’s a conscientious carbon-reducing tippler to do?
Well, here’s the whole sad story. All those lovely imported goods travel great distances. Everything edible, and drinkable, takes energy to make, energy to package and energy to transport. Stuff that comes from overseas must be put in a ship and floated here, then unpacked (with gas- or diesel-powered machines), kept in storage (which uses energy to create, heat or cool and light) and then packed in trucks to be transported to the store (more energy), then home with you. Needless to say, this all adds up.
And there are the non-carbon-related reasons for sourcing your food and drinking locally, not the least of which is supporting your neighbors. The same energy-intensive mechanisms that are so rough on the planet are expensive to set up. Which means imported goods are more likely to be produced or distributed by huge corporations. Buy from New York State producers and you create jobs nearby: jobs mean people with money in their pockets, people paying taxes, supporting other local businesses and creating more jobs. Economic health means better schools, better medical care and less dependence on social-welfare programs. Local food dollars also support farmers, who in turn take care of land and keep it productive. Small farms support wildlife and prevent crappy development from destroying the landscape. New York State was once one of the most agriculturally productive areas in the country, before globalization made apples from Chile cheaper than apples from Dutchess County. We’ll all benefit when our eating and drinking habits drag this city back into the farming spotlight.
So why not turn a vice into a victory for the environment? Booze can be a great way to support local agriculture, businesses and communities. One well-placed distillery could float an entire upstate town on its whiskey river, so to speak. We’ve limited our research to producers within a hundred miles of our fair city — the traditional limitation of hard-core locavores. Add another 50 or 100 miles to the proposition and your choices will expand accordingly...
Wine
We are, in case you hadn’t realized, very lucky to be living where we do. The Tri-State area is lousy with all kinds of food- and booze-generating enterprises. New York has a varied enough climate to produce several different kinds of grapes appropriate for winemaking, and it’s home to more than 220 wineries. Both the east end of Long Island and the Hudson River valley have become centers of viticulture, with respectable reds, whites and rosés squeezed and bottled within a grape’s throw of the city.
Bedell Cellars, on the North Fork of L.I., runs the gamut from decent plonk of red and white to their top-shelf Musee, a $75-dollar bottle with a Chuck Close-designed label. Cheaper and edgier, their Taste comes in both red and white, with label art by Barbara Kruger. A perfect 80s touch to go with your high-waisted jeans, no? Baiting Hollow Farm vineyards is also out on the North Fork, and they do reds, whites and rosés. More importantly, they rescue horses, so a visit to the farm promises more than just swish and spit. (Aieee! Horses!) Try their dessert-friendly Riesling, or their highly regarded cabernet sauvignon.
Don’t forget to check out the green markets for wine sellers — upstate vintners like Millbrook winery and Renaissance sell at a few of the markets, and the relatively new Bridge Vineyards Urban Winery, in Williamsburg, sells only local wines.
Beer
Beer is an easy proposition when it comes to going local — back before mega-corporations and globalization, all breweries were, to a degree, local. New York City used to be filled with breweries: the Schlitz Landing condos were once, not that long ago, the Schlitz Brewery. Everyone knows about Brooklyn Brewery, and their delicious selection of brews (and fun Saturday brewery tours), but many Brooklyn neighborhoods are growing their own breweries: Clinton Hill has Kelso of Brooklyn, Coney Island has Coney Island Lager (kinda… the beer is brewed in Fort Greene and Saratoga Springs) and Red Hook has Sixpoint Craft Ales, which deserves special mention for its politically righteous Hop Obama brew, perfect for serving at your next fundraiser, or during the debates.
If you’re not a Brooklynite, try Harlem Brewing Company, Chelsea Brewing Company, or New Jersey’s finest, High Point Brewing Company. Or head to the Whole Foods brew room on Houston Street, where they always have an assortment of local (and not) brews waiting to fill your reusable “growler,” a half-gallon glass jug. Local + reusable packaging = the greenest beer you can drink.
Booze
Local hard alcohol used to be a difficult proposition, unless you were down with a moonshiner in the Adirondacks — but no longer. Off-the-charts interest in local foods, coupled with the Slow Food movement and the rebirth of cocktail culture, have created the perfect climate for small-scale distilleries all over the Northeast. Liquor has also proven to be a great way to turn a low-value commodity (fruit) into a high-value commodity (booze!). Apple and pear farmers who couldn’t get enough money to cover costs by selling their plain old fruit can make handsome profits turning that same fruit into liquor.
One of the most successful at this is Warwick Valley Winery: they produce wines, yes, but they’ve also turned their apple and pear production into an outstanding line of hard ciders, apple brandy, pear brandy, Bartlett pear liqueur, sour cherry cordial and black currant cordial. Make a day of it and visit their upstate spread, booze it up and shop at their bakery/farm stand. You can even pick apples and pears while you’re there if you’re not too soused.
Tuthilltown Spirits is a hard-liquor distillery working a completely local model. Their corn whiskey — a moonshiney clear — is produced from 100 percent New York-grown corn, and their Spirit of the Hudson vodka is distilled from Hudson Valley apples. Plus, their Baby Bourbon claims to be the first ever brewed in New York State, and their Manhattan Rye is a return to local production for a once-native spirit. A single-malt whiskey and a Hudson River Rum made from Louisiana molasses (about as local as you’re going to get with sugar, I’m afraid) round out the Tuthill liquor cabinet.
Harvest Spirits, up in Valatie (Columbia County) is just outside the 100-mile line, but it deserves mention for its beautifully packaged, small-batch apple vodka. Smack in the middle of what was once the fruit basket of the eastern U.S., their business could be a magnificent model for the rejuvenation of upstate New York. They’ve turned a struggling family farm into a viable booze-producing enterprise, and they plan to add apple-based gin, schnapps and brandy to their line in the near future.
Speaking of gin, Bluecoat American of Philadelphia is producing the only local, or even domestic, gin on the scene. In Philadelphia! All its botanicals (the juniper and spices that give gin its distinctive taste) are locally and organically grown. Sweet ruin.
Finally, don’t forget the local approach when mixing your cocktails. The range of beverages — from fresh apple cider to black currant and pear juices, available at the city’s Greenmarkets — make for fantastic mixers. Ripe peaches can be blenderized for a local nectar (Bellinis, anyone?) and frozen for the winter months. Garnish with New York cherries or homegrown mint (mint tea makes a fantastic mixer, too) instead of imported citrus. If you’re desperate for a citrus tang, make a batch of lemon-balm tea: lemon balm is a sturdy, easy-to-grow herb you can pop in a pot or window box, or buy at the market. Finally, there’s Q tonic, a locally made tonic water made from real quinine and agave syrup instead of GMO corn. It’s practically health food until you mix in the gin...
From the orchard to Orchard Street Bar, with a scant 130 miles between — what could be better for all of us? Dedicated boozehounds need to commit to local agriculture by asking for, and drinking, local lubricants. With all the money and jobs hemorrhaging from Wall Street, perhaps our city’s future is actually out in the country, in local agriculture and industry. That’s an idea I’m happy to raise a glass to. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
