On a late April afternoon in Paris, I tilt my face to the sun as I sit outside, for the first time this year, and enjoy a dish of white asparagus. And later that day, with the sun streaming into The Cambridge, a Parisian ‘pub’ which is ranked as 38th bar in the world on the 50 Best list, I enjoy cocktails from a menu that is developed seasonally.

The conversation dives into how the cocktails are created, and owners Hyacinthe Lescoët and Hugo Gallou explain that each month a member of the team picks a seasonal ingredient and does extensive research—from books, to experimenting with fermentation or process, before even thinking about incorporating alcohol. But what is surprising about this conversation is that it isn’t just about seasonality and sourcing, this process is about people.

For a bar like The Cambridge, their environment, their sense of place, includes the ingredients they can source and the people they employ, the Paris bar industry as a whole, and their relationships with suppliers. In the last three years they have not had anyone leave, a feat within the industry.

It is relationships to environment, landscape, a sense of place, and to people, that is being explored in depth within parts of the spirits world, and The Cambridge* is a model for this. But what does sustainability mean, and how can brands and bars be genuinely accountable so that it doesn’t become greenwashing?

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When it comes to drinks, especially with spirits, the connection with ingredients and farming seems abstract—liquid in a glass bottle is so removed from the land. The relationship with wine and agriculture is more well known, and so conversations such as being organic are easier to comprehend, Annabel Thomas, founder of organic Scottish whisky Nc'nean tells me.

“Wine makers and the consumers are more closely connected to the agricultural origin—[for example] winemakers are often winegrowers, which is uncommon in whisky,” Annabel says. In her experience, consumers know that grapes make wine, whereas many people are quite fuzzy about what actually makes whisky.

““It has become exceptionally easy to be disassociated from nature.””

— Tyler Pederson, Westland Whiskey

“That connection to a barley field is lacking, and as a result we often have people ask us ‘what makes whisky organic, isn’t all whisky organic?’” she says. But Annabel thinks that support and interest in low-intervention wine is beginning to influence people’s approach and understanding of whisky.

Tyler Pederson, master distiller at Westland Whiskey, a single malt whiskey producer based in Seattle, echoes Annabel’s thoughts: “It has become exceptionally easy to be disassociated from nature and its connection to the [whiskey] we buy,” he says.

Tyler further explains that a lot of modern production practices are done behind closed doors. For Westland, relationships are about transparency. “We work with specialised craft malt houses that have direct relationships with small farms and can preserve the identity of the grains throughout the process. This allows us a greater degree of transparency to follow-up with the farmers involved to ensure that they are responsibly managing their respective operations.”

For new French whisky producers Hautes Glaces, based in the Alps, they connect sustainability with flavour of place. Founder Fred Revol was shocked at how industrial much of the whisky industry is and how often it is viewed as a commodity. He wanted to develop a drink that could reconnect whisky with the raw materials.

“I am trying to explore the concept of terroir and question the relationship with nature and the environment,” Fred explains. He thinks there are a lot of exciting things to be done to achieve this. Hautes Glaces started as an organic farm and distillery, and now the producer has 15 farms around the distillery that supply them with grains—barley, rye and spelt—creating a collective.

Cyan Wong, a drinks and bar consultant, tells me that there are only a few brands that are focusing on ethical practices but does believe this approach is growing. “It is infectious, it has longevity,” she explains. “Hopefully a lot of brands will be heading in that direction for the fact it will just be profitable—have sustainably as a business plan and not just as a construct.”

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People may know that some vodkas are made from potatoes, but few talk about the farming of potatoes, and botanicals are spoken about with gin, but not the ingredients that make the spirits those botanicals are steeped in.

Belvedere Organic Vodka is made from 100% organic rye, making them one of the few big vodka brands to market products with environmental practices as part of its identity. They also have a single estate range, which leans into language of terroir and ideas of place. This use of language and marketing signals a way of working, a level of expertise, and a sense of speciality and quality. Drinkers now understand the terminology of ‘sustainability’ and ‘environmentally friendly.’

““I felt we had a responsibility to care for the land on which our main raw ingredient was grown.””

— Annabel Thomas, Nc'nean Organic Whisky

For brands like Nc'nean this approach has to come from a place of care. “I felt we had a responsibility to care for the land on which our main raw ingredient was grown—as much as we cared about what we did at the distillery,” Annabel explains.

Labelling and naming products helps us to make informed choices about brands. Fred Revol tells me that official labels are important but are confusing as there are many metrics to judge a spirit. His experience of using the AOC in Europe leading him to feel that the classification “...offers clarity of the provenance and some rules, and this is important as it is the link with place and that is part of the solution.” But he also explains that the most interesting wine he has drunk in the last two decades have been off appellation.

“These are people who are exploring new ways of making wine—that is more ‘natural’. This kind of certification can also be a constraint to innovation that is dedicated to environmental ideas.” For him, the labelling of ‘organic’ is a first step, not the answer.

Tyler Pederson thinks that labels are beneficial but he’s not convinced buyers are solely purchasing because of certifications. “With a sea of certifications it can feel overwhelming to drinkers (and growers, maltsters, and distillers) but they do communicate a set of production practices that may align with their core values. It is an effective shorthand.”

Westland, Hautes Glaces, and Nc'nean are all B Corp certified, and The Cambridge are working towards certification. To be B Corp certified, an organisation must go under rigorous assessment across a number of different criteria from people focus to environmental impact, this assessment criteria are defined by B Lab, a global nonprofit network. This criteria is continuously updated and organisations must be reassessed every three years.

Annabel Thomas went down this road with Nc’nean for two reasons: “One, to go beyond the purely ‘organic’ label and be part of a more global movement recognising that business overall can be a force for good; and two, to help us improve as a business—the way it is structured encourages continuous improvement.”

B Corp certification, like all labelling and certification, must also be critiqued. With the growing global ‘movement’ (B Lab’s terminology) there can be a sense of fervour to the idea, building a binary narrative of those that ‘have’ and those that ‘have not’, over complex issues that have multiple solutions. B Corp certification aims to be complex and nuanced, but that’s not a story easily told or understood in a wider (consumer) sense.

This so-called movement is happening because the public sector and some governmental bodies are not being proactive in actively working towards sustainable futures, and many people and businesses want change. But sitting outside of formal structures means it doesn’t need to be regulated or have mandatory checks. In recent years its process has come under scrutiny and accused of greenwashing because of companies that have achieved B Corp status, such as Nespresso.

A few years ago I tweeted that B Corp is a ‘rich, white person’s badge of honour’**, whilst acknowledging that social media is not the place for nuanced discussion. I am reminded of a conversation with a winemaker in France a number of years ago. A small vineyard, beautiful wines—the winemakers explained that his family had been making wine for generations, they were organic but didn’t want to pay to have the certification and labelling.

““The labelling of ‘organic’ is a first step, not the answer.””

I have a feeling there was a certain rebellious nature in his reasoning, but it did bring up the question of who has access to official certifications and accreditations. They take investment of both time and money, and not all producers have the ability to navigate this.

All I spoke to felt that B Corp was a beginning and not a solution, and Hugo Gallou of The Cambridge explained that regardless of the outcome the exercise of meeting the criteria was beneficial in making them change, and that in itself was worthwhile.

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Are sustainable changes happening because of consumer demand, or because businesses think it is the right thing to do? I believe it should be a combination of political structure, business desire and consumers wanting to drink better.

Wong thinks there is real change happening. “Since lockdown people have had a bit more time to think, consider what they buy, invest (time and money) as well as what they put into their bodies.” She says it is akin to eating organic, sustainable foods. “People are more curious.”

She sees a correlation with the growth in agave spirits—people are coming to the category with an interest and understanding about the growing process, and the farming and the farming community is very much a part of the narrative of understanding the quality of the liquid.

Hyacinthe Lescoët comes back to the idea of relationships. “Developing a relationship with people allows you to have in-depth conversations” he says, when explaining the importance of having regulars. But it’s not just about drinkers, it is also about the people working in the bars. “10 years ago there were late night bars in the industry nights, but it doesn't work anymore.”

Hyacinthe also points to brands that are re-thinking the logistics of the bar world, which allows for better experience for consumers. For example, ecoSPIRITS, a wine and spirits distribution company that is low carbon and low waste, creating a circular economy. Waste is always a huge issue in bars, and focusing on packaging can take a lot of that thinking away from the venues.

Packaging is something that consumers can quickly grasp and assess. Annabel Thomas says that there are some clear and easy things to tackle: “Lightweight glass, reduce gift packaging, increase recycled content…” and points out that this is an area that governments can support.

“Here in the UK the government has intervened, and all packaging is now 100% recyclable, but we are a long way off some lightweight aims,” she says. She also points out that some buyers are insisting on lighter bottles.

“Money talks.”

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What’s obvious is the need for transparency. Each producer and industry expert I spoke to referenced their specific environment—be it rolling hills or across the bar—and deeply engaging in those spaces. For Tyler Pedersen at Westland, it is as detailed as investing heavily in using barley grown from Salmon-safe certified farms, and for Cyan Wong and Hyacinthe Lescoët it is about developing meaningful connections with guests and suppliers.

Annabel spoke about not talking about initiatives too early, lest talk becomes greenwashing should the plans fall through. For her distillery Nc’nean, there is a real sense of action and not getting caught up in theory. Tyler Pederson sees accountability as responsibility.

“I would love to see distilleries working with their supply chains and regional municipalities to create more grain elevators, cleaning facilities, and distribution networks,” he says.

““To be accountable is to keep talking.””

Fred Revol sees the press and other storytellers as similarly responsible, with a need to be accountable. “You are a very important part of this journey, because it is part of the process of value creation.” To make accountability important, there is a need for there to be value on ethically made liquid.

In 2023 I went to the launch event of a collection of whiskies (and one cognac) that was a collaboration with Berry Bros. & Rudd and Mr Lyan. Named ‘The Collective: Pioneers’, it was a group of carefully selected spirit brands that were pioneering in their approach to sustainably and the relationship between spirit-making, environment and community. Seeing and listening to the producers in one room explaining their approaches (this included whiskies from Westland and Nc’nean) made me reflect on collectiveness.

Bringing makers together created a sense of community that was an informal way to be accountable and gave a space for knowledge sharing. Seeing the different ways to understand sustainability laid bare the narrative around drinks and ethical practices—it is complicated, difference is good. How do we find a way to keep in the complexity of conversation?

To be accountable is to keep talking, to keep being transparent and to keep communicating and building relationships. Developing sustainable practices happen when producers, bartenders, consumers are deeply engaged with the environment they live, work and play in. Because, as Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan) says, ‘sustainability is delicious.’

*Since writing The Cambridge has gained B Corp status.

**Since my tweet, B Corp have been open to criticism about access and for a while offered a ‘giveaway’, a chance to ‘win’, for UK companies that were at least 50% owed by People of Colour, women, trans or non-binary, individuals with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Framing it as ‘winning’ doesn't make change in a structural way, but hopefully it will become more widely available.

Full Disclosure: Dr Anna Sulan Masing has recently taken on a role at Mr Lyan Studio, but this story was pitched, researched and all interviews undertaken beforehand.