There’s been a growing awareness and effort in recent years to reduce and reuse food waste among the hospitality industry. And it’s happening behind the bar as well. More and more restaurants and drinking establishments are now introducing bar programs with low-waste cocktails, also known as no waste, closed loop, or anti waste.
By finding new uses for kitchen scraps, these eco-conscious bartenders are turning trash into liquid treasure. Plus, in addition to venues, big spirits brands like Patron are also implementing environmental initiatives into their processes, such as giving distillery compost to local farmers who grow agave, to help minimize waste.
From leftover oranges to coffee grounds, here’s how some bartenders are repurposing food waste into high-end cocktails.
In addition to giving distillery compost to local farmers who grow agave to help minimize waste, Patron also offers low-waste cocktail recipes including the Melon Collins, which is made with Patron Silver tequila, cantaloupe shrub, lime stock, and soda water. The melon shrub can be created by using vinegar and sugar to preserve overripe melons.
Photo: Courtesy of Liquor Lab
At Providence in Los Angeles, head bartender Kim Stodel offers up a menu of zero-waste cocktails and mocktails, giving leftover ingredients new life as infusions and garnishes. The Notify the Mayor! cocktail contains Mell vodka, Jardesca (a California aperitif), espelette, and a celeriac lime cordial that Stodel makes by concocting a syrup with lime juice and zest, as well as celery root scraps from the kitchen. The garnish is made from pickled celery root, which has been marinated in the lime cordial.
Photo: Kyle Deven
A Thai-inspired take on a classic Mai Tai, the restaurant’s Muay Thai is made with a rum infusion that Stodel creates in a cryogenic bag with lemongrass, ginger, and kaffir lime that are left over from the kitchen. He uses the remaining ingredients from the infusion to create a fruit leather-like garnish. The cocktail is also served with an uncultivated rye straw that’s natural and biodegradable.
Photo: Kyle Deven
Angelisco Blanco tequila, Pierre Ferrand curacao, guava, lime, and grapefruit make up the Mano de Chango. A hybrid of a margarita and a paloma, the drink incorporates a house-made guava syrup. Stodel repurposes the guava pulp from the syrup to create a fruit leather garnish.
Photo: Kyle Deven
Stodel turns pea tendril scraps into a green pea oil that floats atop the Peas and Thank You cocktail, which is made with Nuestra Soledad mezcal, Bonal, lemon, pea tendril, and mint.
Photo: Kyle Deven
“This is a French 75 riff using pear brandy. We dehydrate as much of the fruit as possible, while using the odds and ends of the fruit to make preserves. In this way, we are able to have beautiful pear flavors for as long we have these preserves, extending the life of the fruit beyond its regular season,” explains Claire Sprouse of the Tin Roof Drink Community about the Lucky Bounce cocktail, which is made of pear brandy, cinnamon-pear preserves, lemon, and cava. Sprouse, along with Chad Arnholt, offer consulting services on sustainability for the catering, events, beverage, and hospitality industries.
Photo: Courtesy of Tin Roof Drink Community
Sprouse says that they use corn scraps such as husks and corn cobs to infuse the vodka in the Copper & Corn cocktail, which also contains Chardonnay and citrus and is clarified with milk. “This milk punch as a whole is clarified, which makes it shelf stable for at least a few weeks so that we are minimizing the possibility of it spoiling. In this case, the cream and curds were traded back to the kitchen where they whip them into ice cream that has a slight corn and citrus flavor from the punch.”
Photo: Courtesy of Tin Roof Drink Community
At Boleo in the Kimpton Gray Hotel in Chicago, head bartender Jess Lambert has curated a lineup of sustainable cocktails that are crafted with reused and recycled ingredients. Plus, a portion of the proceeds from each drink benefits Zero Waste Chicago, an environmental organization that offers resources and education to increase awareness of alternatives to waste. (Pictured: Inspired by a Peruvian holiday bread called Paneton, the Crossing Seas cocktail combines Cana Brava seven-year rum, Fernet Jellinek, Licor 43, and Appleton Jamaican rum, along with a concentrate made from leftover oranges and orange scraps.)
Photo: Michelle Banovic/Boleo
The One More Chance concoction reuses day-old bread from the hotel kitchen, by toasting it and allowing it to infuse with a house-made almond orgeat. The mixture creates a French toast-like syrup to complement the base of Suntory Toki Japanese whiskey and Rhine Hall La Normande brandy. Lemon, egg white, Angostura bitters, and club soda finish off the drink.
Photo: Michelle Banovic/Boleo
The Jardinero Gimlet includes a rosemary-lime cordial, which can be made with excess citrus or citrus juice and sugar. It also contains Roca Patron Silver tequila and mezcal.
Photo: Courtesy of Liquor Lab
The Mother Earth Pepino is made with Patron Silver tequila that's been infused with leftover herbs, along with pressed cucumber juice, simple syrup, lime juice, and soda water.
Photo: Courtesy of Liquor Lab
Coffee grounds infuse flavor into the vermouth in the Old Brew, New Tricks cocktail, which also contains Patron Reposado tequila, cynar, Ancho Reyes liqueur, and two dashes of mole bitters.
Photo: Courtesy of Liquor Lab
