How to garnish your cocktails with sustainability in mind

The history of cocktail garnishes begins with those that played an important function. Garnishes were included in recipes for a reason: they formed essential components of the drinks themselves, whether contributing to flavour or aroma. This is still the case for many of the classic cocktail recipes. Wedges of fruit bring a hint of acidic brightness to a drink; a twist of peel infuses citrus oil into its scent. The cherry in a Manhattan provides a touch of perfumed sweetness, while an olive adds an important savoury note to the classic Martini.

Garnishes with no role other than decoration began to play a role in the 19th century, when it became fashionable for bartenders to add excessive amounts of fruit. In the mid-1930s, with a slingshot effect following the dull days of Prohibition and influenced by the burgeoning tiki trend in the US, cocktails were suddenly adorned with a variety of colourful, fanciful and largely non-edible items. Branded swizzlesticks, paper umbrellas and other bright, often silly and mostly single-use additions were thrown into drinks with abandon. Long after the fashion for all things tiki had fizzled out, these additions persisted, with paper umbrellas a mainstay of many an establishment even through the 90s.

Today, however, priorities have changed, and what once felt novel and fun now seems wasteful. In this article, we explore how to build sustainability into your garnish policy, whether that means eliminating garnishes altogether, reducing the amount of ingredients used in them, using repurposed ingredients, and/or ensuring they create minimal waste. 

No garnish is best

Best practice is to avoid garnishes at all, unless they are fundamental to the recipe or add significant value to the drink. Where bespoke recipes are developed in-house, aspire to create only cocktails that are garnish-free as standard. Non-edible garnishes should be avoided across the board.

Use less

Where garnish forms a necessary component of the drink, consider quantities. If you’re making a mojito, can you cut down the amount of mint used in each glass? 

Low- or no-waste garnishes

Where garnishes are used, all of them should be edible and it’s important to prioritise ingredients that will generate less waste.