Green toasts

Many people believe that those wicked hangovers can be traced to the chemicals in our drink. Most commercial contains some heavy hitting fungicides, herbicides along with the forever-toxic insecticide dimethoate. All these ingredients have been linked to health problems such as cancer of the liver, throat and kidneys along with endocrine diseases.

While there is no conclusive medical evidence that these chemicals can cause hangovers, they do put undo stress on a liver that is already trying to process all that ethanol. Fans of organic spirits, beer and wine claim they don’t have the same kind of hangovers.

One thing is certain, organic tastes better.

Organic beer
Last year, Canadians guzzled just over 2.3 billion litres (6.0 billion gallons). It may be time to give up the mass-produced brews now that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is warning about a possible link between beer consumption cancers of the mouth and esophagus. Regular beer is filled with sulphur dioxide, ethanol and silicone; all used to speed up the lengthy brewing and then extend the shelf life.

“Green” beer uses organic hops, barley, wheat, all processed without any chemicals. Most organic beer is being created by small microbreweries and supporting them can help you get greener. Beer is one beverage with a large carbon footprint: it travels long distances and sits in large walk-in refrigerators. Buying local means you are reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To find a microbrewery near you, visit Real Beer: www.realbeer.com or Beer Advocate: http://beeradvocate.com/.

Organic wines
In the last few years, the organic wine market has grown to include a wide range of products from around the world, including Canadian wineries.

There are two many labels for organic wine:
-“Organic” means the grapes were grown without any fungicides, herbicides or insecticides, and contain less than 20 parts per million sulphites. There’s no GMO yeast allowed, no di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and the rice-hulls and egg whites used in the wine making process must be organic.
-Wines labeled “Made with Organically Grown Grapes” do use organic grapes but also contain sulphites but only 100 parts per million or less.

Most organic wine producers choose to create wine with some sulphites.

“We choose the 100 parts per million or less of sulphites for our Bonterra wines because sulphites allow stabilization of the fermentation. Without any, quality is hard to maintain and you don't get the same consistency or shelf life,” says Ann Thrupp, Manager of Sustainability & Organic Development at Fetzer Vineyards. www.fetzer.com and www.bonterra.com

Fetzer is one of the largest producers of organic wines and is considered a pioneer of California winemaking. The best organic wines are coming out of California. Although French is producing organic wines they often don’t label it as such, simply because the process is too complicated and there is no set standard. Instead, most French wines have the National stamp AB logo (agriculture biologique) or say "Vin issue de raisins Biologique" (made with organic grapes).

Vodka Vodka is one of the fastest growing markets and fans rave about the pure taste of organic vodkas. When Allison Evanow wanted to put “the ethos of the farmer’s market into a glass” she created Square One vodka from organically certified North Dakota-grown rye. She uses a natural fermentation process with no non-organic enzymes. This may reduce the yield of the vodka but produces a brand that is lighter and sweeter. Even their packaging is eco-friendly. www.squareonevodka.com

Other popular brands include OrangeV, Prarie Organic, Rain Organic Vodka, Peak Spirits and TRU Organic Vodkas.

Other organic spirits include:
- Juniper Green Organic London Dry Gin created with a combination of organic juniper berries, coriander, angelica root and savory. www.junipergreen.org
- Highland Harvest Organic Grain Whisky is a blend of three-grain whiskies (highland, island and Speyside) and highland malt.
- Papagayo Organic Rums are the result of a fair trade project started in 1993 in a remote region in Paraguay. Today 800 plus farmers produce organic sugar used to create plain and spiced rum are pretty delicious as well. www.maisonjomere.com/papagayospicedrum.htm
- 4 Copas Tequila produces three smooth and sophisticated tequilas made from organically certified agave plants: Blanco, Reposado and Anejo. www.4copas.com