Veganuary - How Vegan Drinks work

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The vegan January, better known as "Veganuary", is to motivate humans for the first month of the new year to completely be without animal products in their nutrition and thus to live much more sustainably. A non-binding trial month, so to speak, which gives interested people an insight into how easy - or perhaps how difficult - it can be to change one's eating habits, to do without certain foods or to replace them with others.

 

Vegan Start into the New Year

The non-profit organization Veganuary has already been motivating people to eat a purely plant-based diet since the launch of its campaign in 2014, which also extends beyond January. Many large companies are also participating in this movement, motivating the Vegan Challenge and advertising their purely plant-based products at the same time.

 

Plant-based Nutrition has long ceased to be a Niche Market

With a glance at the filled shelves and the wide assortment of large supermarket chains, it is easy to see that a purely plant-based diet no longer has to be difficult or even one-sided. Quite the opposite! There is now a huge selection - from plant-based milk and cheese to fish and meat alternatives. But what about vegan drinks?

 

The Hidden Animal Traps

At first you probably think that it should be quite easy to distinguish vegan drinks from non-vegan ones. For drinks that contain milk products or honey, for example, or an egg liqueur, the classification as an animal product is quite clear. It becomes more difficult, however, if the ingredients are plant-based, but animal products are used in the production process. For example, gelatine made from bovine bones is often used to clarify alcohol. This is also often contained in syrup or used to filter juices. Moreover, casein, egg white and fish bladders are also used in the production of alcoholic beverages.

 

Flavoring and Colorants are also often not Vegan

Colorants and flavorings added to beverages can also be of animal origin. For example, female scale insects are used to create the dye carmine red. Distilled spirits such as gin and whiskey are generally almost always purely vegetable. However, care must be taken with beers from abroad, wines and non-alcoholic beverages. Among other things, these often contain lactose or honey.

 

It pays off to check the Label

The good thing is: Meanwhile, vegan products are usually very well marked on the label of the container. However: Just because vegan is inside, it does not mean that vegan is on the outside. Those who are very critical should also find out whether the bottles were also produced without animal products. The V-label only reveals whether the drink itself is vegan. Labels could also be attached with an adhesive that is based on animal products. There are also plant-based alternatives.

 

Vegan Guests in the Bar

So that bartenders can serve their vegan guests drinks with a clear conscience, they should find out in advance which products they actually use for their cocktail creations. This way, you can provide much better information about which drinks and ingredients are of plant origin in case of queries.

 

100 Percent Vegan Cocktail Bar

A few vegan alternatives alone are not enough for the "Couch Potato" bar in Vienna! In fact, this bar has changed its menu completely to plant-based drinks and dishes and has since been considered Vienna's first vegan cocktail bar. They offer classic cocktails based on traditional recipes and only replace the animal products with plant-based alternatives. For the authentic cocktail enjoyment completely without renunciation.

Similar purely plant-based concepts already exist in many other major cities, such as New York. Here, for example, chef and mixologist Alex Peralta's Pocion or the vegan tapas and wine bar Ladybird are a go-to for many vegans.

 

Drinks for Vegans and those who want to become one

In addition to spirits that are already vegan anyway, there are now also alternatives for popular classics. For example, "Baileys", the Irish cream liqueur, or the creamy vanilla liqueur "Licor 43", has already brought out a plant-based version.

The website livekindly.co also provides a good overview of which spirits are safe for vegans in their guide to vegan alcohol and also give their users recommendations on plant-based products.

Vegan House Sour

 

Ingredients & Instruction for Egg White Substitute:

·       25g Methylcellulose

·       0.5g Xanthan

·       1000g Water

 

Mix everything in a blender at room temperature.  Let the mixture cool down for 24hours in a fridge until the foam settles.  You should be left with a thick transparent liquid which you can bottle and store in the fridge e.g. in a sqeeze bottle. 

 

Ingredients & Instruction for House Sour:

·      50ml Bombay Sapphire redistilled with Hops

·       20ml Pear Syrup

·       20ml Lemon Juice

·       2.5ml Pear Eau-de-Vie

·       5 drops Coriander Eau-de-Vie

·       1 generous squeeze of the egg white substitute.

 

Dry shake, then shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Et voilà! 

Damien Guichard shows us how to make a plant-based egg white substitute and use it to create an incredibly delicious and vegan House Sour.

The topic of sustainability is very close to our hearts at the BCB. Therefore, we want to use our platforms even more to offer this topic a stage on a regular basis. Our goal is to provide our visitors and followers with impulses and motivation for an even more sustainable bar culture and to create a stronger environmental awareness. Cheers to Sustainability!