WASTE NOT WANT NOT, TRASH TIKI COCKTAILS

Trash Tiki Cocktails have been labeled the future of bartending. Iain Griffiths and Kelsey Ramage, founders of Trash Tiki, one of the leaders in the movement, tell us how they have taken the Trash Tiki concept around the world. We speak to Iain and Kelsey to find out more about their journey and how to create the perfect sustainable cocktail serves.

Waste not, want not

Trash Tiki has steamrolled beyond our wildest imaginations. It first came up as more of a conversation that we both were having about what we could do in the (Lyan) bars that we were working in at the time. There was a big realization during that time that firstly, bartenders and consumers alike still really didn’t understand what a sustainable bar program was and thus considered it to be complicated and unattainable for the average person.

Secondly, we were seeing request after request for 5 Tips every bar can do today and similar topics, before stepping back to realize the set of ingredients and equipment in each bar, professional or home, is completely different and so rarely can every venue do the same thing.

Finally, we realized sustainability needed a face lift. It had been wheeled out again and again as a new trend, yet seen at very few venues and thus quite rapidly would become something boring and played out. We knew then as we know now that this idea is one that has its place behind every venue around the world and it was simply a matter of finding the right vocabulary that got more people inspired to give it a try.

Better than we could have ever imagined

We set out to create ingredients from waste, initially, to show that you can get flavor out of almost everything that we’ve come to consider trash. Simple, or so we thought. We posted the recipes on an online platform, via our website, trashtikisucks.com. This idea of an open-source recipe book, if you will, was really all we ever hoped Trash Tiki would become, a resource for anyone to use. Then came requests for a few pop ups, and the rest as they say, is history.

Trash movement

In the end, whether you call it sustainable, anti-waste, low impact or anything else, the importance of the Trash Tiki movement is to understand that real success will only happen when everybody is doing it. It is about educating everyone on both sides of the bar to respect the produce and ingredients we’re so lucky to have at hand, and allow that respect to follow through with a creative program.

Trash Tiki is not a trend, but a chance for the bar world globally to change how we do what we do with the right degree of respect for the produce we use.

Tops tips on how to create the perfect trash tiki serves

One thing we’re stoked to have learned and come to define is that there is always at least one small change every venue can implement. We need to end single-use ingredients in the bar world.

Fresh produce is a wonderful advent of the craft cocktail culture we can often take for granted. However, every venue needs to ensure that any produce that comes through their door is used in as many different ways as possible.

A few simple steps to help you create the perfect trash tiki serves:

• Make sure you buy good-quality local ingredients; this provides longevity so that you can fully utilize it in multiple aspects of each serve.
• Think of your ingredients as a whole and try and think how many ways it can be used; take a lemon, for example: you can juice it, pickle it, peel it and use it as a garnish.
• Use your ingredients in multiple serves as well as dishes, stamping out single use ingredients.
• Find alternatives to the usual suspects. We find that burnt carrots create the same acidity as lemons or limes.
• Sustainability doesn’t stop with your serves. Try recycling straws, glasses, bottles and make you trash valuable.Stopping single use produce that cannot be utilized in multiple areas of your venue such as the bar and the kitchen.
• Stop using produce that cannot be utilized in multiple areas of your venue ,such as the bar and the kitchen.

Ultimately, being sustainable is about reducing consumption; we need to ship fewer produce around the world every day, drain fewer resources and create a mindset that isn’t about using sustainability as a means of upsell but realizing its long-term benefits for your venue.

Trash Tiki cocktails for you to try

Ready to try turning you trash into treasure? Here are some of our favorites for you to try in your venue.

Rind & Rizza Spritz

• 1 oz. TANQUERAY LONDON Dry Gin
• 15 oz. Watermelon rind cordial
• .75 oz. Riesling
• .25 oz. Grapefruit stock
• 1 0z. club soda

METHOD:

Build over cubed ice in a Wine glass.

Garnish with fresh green herbs.

Old Man Stick

• 1.5 oz. JOHNNIE WALKER Black Label
• 25 oz. Spiced avo orgeat
• .25 oz. Aged orange juice
• .25 oz. lemon stock
• 3 Dashes angostura & absinthe blend

METHOD:

Shake all ingredients over cubed ice.

Serve in a rocks glass.

Garnish with fruit pulp leather.

(*One standard drink contains 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol)