Want additional motivation for imbibing in a delicious cocktail? Epicure & Culture has rounded up the best cocktails and spirits around the country where a portion of your purchase goes toward doing good. Raise your glass and indulge in one of these cocktails for a cause!

1) Hurricane Harvey Relief (Watertrade in Austin, Texas)

Several Austin-based bars and restaurants operated by the hospitality firm New Waterloo are supporting coastal Texas by donating a portion of profits to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. By purchasing specified cocktails, you can help provide aid to devastated areas of Houston, Port Aransas, Rockport and beyond.

Watertrade is a hole in the wall cocktail kingdom nestled beside the famous Otoko. Previously, it was only open to diners in the Japanese restaurant; but now it’s carefully crafted, Japanese inspired cocktails are available to all. Watertrade donates $3 per cocktail.

Try their “Blue Bayou,” which exemplifies their trademark Japanese twist. This drink combines kimo sabe mezcal, blueberry, basil and egg white with bubbles.

2) Wildlife Conservation (Amarula Supplies Around The US)

The makers of the South African cream liqueur, Amarula, have recently launched a charitable campaign for the holiday season. “Don’t Let Them Disappear” aims to save and protect the rapidly declining African elephant population. A source estimates one elephant is tragically lost to poaching every fifteen minutes. From September 1st through December 31st of this year, when you purchase a bottle of Amarula in the United States, $1 will be donated to the conservation non-profit, WildlifeDIRECT.

Amarula is perfect on the rocks or you can create the following comforting cocktail:

Amarula French Toast

• 1 ½ part Amarula Cream Liqueur
• ½ part Rum
• ½ part Milk
• Cinnamon
• Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a glass, lightly dust with cinnamon and swirl with a cinnamon stick.

3) Political Empowerment (Madison on Park in San Diego, CA)

If you’re upset with the current political situation, Madison on Park’s bar manager has created a tasty way to support the opposition. He combines peaches and politics to take an anti-Trump stance with $1 of all sales benefiting the American Civil Liberties Union. “The Impeachmint” is crafted with muddled white peaches, Bulleit bourbon, muddled mint, simple syrup, lemon and soda water.

This refreshing drink offers a playful way to lighten the latest tweets coming from President Trump’s Twitter feed.

4) Urban Bee Keeping (The Stinger Cocktail Bar & Kitchen in NYC)

The Stinger Cocktail Bar & Kitchen — one of the most Instagrammable places in New York City — recently opened as a way to utilize The InterContinental New York Times Square Hotel’s rooftop beehives. These hives are home to more than 60,000 bees who produce honey that goes directly into your cocktails and small plates.

Part of the proceeds of the “Bee Good” cocktail benefit The Best Bees Company and Urban Bee Keeping Laboratory & Bee Sanctuary, Inc. In addition to rooftop honey, this cocktail includes Langley’s No. 8 gin and homemade mead.

Also, if you’re looking for fun places to go for your birthday in NYC, this is a top pick!

5) Dog Rescue For Puerto Rican Hurricane Victims (Sociale in Brooklyn, NY)

Francesco Nuccitelli, owner of Sociale, has recently named The SATO Project as his restaurant’s annual charity. Throughout the year, there will be a tropical cocktail on the menu created specifically to raise money for the project.

This Puerto Rican dog rescue program has saved more than 1,500 abandoned dogs in the last decade, often rehoming dogs with loving families on the mainland United States.  Right now, SATO Project volunteers are working to reunite Puerto Rican families who fled the hurricane with their dogs, some of whom require airlifting from areas devastated by Hurricane Maria.

6) Cancer Awareness & Prevention (Lone Star Court in Austin, Texas)

Celebrate No Shave November with fun cocktails for a cause that raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Lone Star Court Hotel and its on-site restaurant, The Water Trough, will offer a selection of specialty cocktails with 20% of sales benefiting cancer prevention efforts. In addition to comparing facial hair on enthusiastic employees, be sure to try the “Manly Margarita” featuring Bulleit Bourbon, Cointreau, house-made margarita mix and a salt for rim.

Another tasty option: “Long Island Goa-Tea” with Seagram’s Vodka and Gin, Bacardi Rum, Dekuyper Triple Sec, lemon juice, lime juice and Coca Cola.

Okay, one more: the “Mustache Mule” with Blue Ice Vodka, cranberry juice, fresh lime juice and ginger beer. Yum!

7) Hurricane Relief (Rum Tour in Antigua, St. Kitts & Barbados)

If you want to donate more than a couple of dollars to charity, consider going on a three-island rum tour that includes many cocktails and many opportunities to give back. Now through November 30, island lovers and rum enthusiasts can book CheapCaribbean’s Rum Tour, which takes you on a spirited and memorable journey to Antigua, St. Kitts and Barbados.

Guests will island hop the Caribbean with a puddle jumper plane, stay at top-notch properties and tour local distilleries including Antigua Distillery Ltd., Clay Villa and Wingfield Estate and Mount Gay Rum Distillery.

Twenty percent of your $4,999 tour will benefit hurricane relief efforts through Tourism Cares.

8) Fighting Hunger in America (Riverpark Restaurant, NYC)

Simple Vodka is a new farm-to-bottle vodka determined to fight hunger in the United States. Simple Vodka donates 20 meals per bottle produced — effectively, one meal per drink — through partnerships with American hunger relief programs.

In addition to supporting the cause when buying a bottle ($26.99), you can visit bars in New York City and Miami, where cocktails made with Simple Vodka give back one meal per drink.

As the days get colder, try the comforting “Volga” cocktail at Riverpark in NYC. It combines Simple Vodka, Firelit Coffee Liquor, frangelico, pumpkin oil and fluffy egg white.

If you live in Florida, visit the Bay Club Miami to sip on the “Blue Pill” featuring Simple Vodka, lavender water, blueberry, allspice, lemon and a St. Germaine foam. So far Simple has donated over 61,000 meals, and aims to increase their annual donation to 30 million meals by 2020.

9) Gay Pride (Cardinal Spirits & Pioneer in Bloomington, Indiana)

This distillery, bar and restaurant’s local focus isn’t restricted to choosing ingredients; Cardinal Spirits find ways to engage the surrounding community with their drinks. One of their most popular liquors is their PRIDE vodka, which donates 10% of proceeds to Bloomington PRIDE. The first bottle of this tasty vodka was filled on Friday, June 26, 2015 — the day that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

You can visit Pioneer Restaurant in Indianapolis, who makes a “SM57” cocktail showcasing Pride Vodka plus gin, triple sec, liqueur de violette, lemon, orange bitters and lavender bitters.

Alternatively, try making a “Moscow Mule” at home using this recipe:

• 1.5 ounces Cardinal Spirits Pride Vodka
• 1/2 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
• Ginger beer, to taste
• Lime wedge, for garnish
• Add vodka and lime juice to a copper mug, then fill with ice.
• Fill with ginger beer and garnish with lime wedge.

10) Tourette’s Syndrome (Cherrity Bar in San Antonio, Texas)

While the occasional donation to charity is better than nothing, Cherrity Bar’s entire identity is centered around giving back.

Owners David and Pam Malley have a son who lives with Tourette’s, and Pam is a Speech Language Pathologist who travels nationwide helping other children living with the disorder. They started the bar committed to donating 100% of their profits. Ten percent goes directly to the Tourette Association and the remaining 90% is split between three competing charities each month, elected by patrons.

One of their debut cocktails is called “I’m a Giver”. It’s a bright and tangy citrus cocktail with sweet peppercorn on the nose.  Visit the bar to taste or try to recreate it at home:

• 1 1.5 oz seersucker’s gin
• 1 oz grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz maraschino
• 1/4 oz simple syrup
• 2 dashes of peppercorn tincture
• Pour all but the tincture into a shaking tin. Shake vigorously, and pour into rocks glass filled with ice. Top with peppercorn tincture.

11) Economic Empowerment (P.S. Kitchen in NYC)

Recently opened P.S. Kitchen offers an innovative plant-based menu and creative cocktails in Manhattan’s Theater District.

The vegetarian restaurant was created as a social business, with the mission of donating 100% profits to charity. Local and international partners include The Doe Fund, CEEDS (Cooperative for Economic Empowerment and Development Services), Share Hope, DEFY Ventures and Yunus Social Business.

They offer a variety of small batch and organic spirits. The “X.O.” combines fresh beet juice, smoked single malt whisky, orange juice, muddled raspberries and maple syrup.

Tepache, a pineapple spirit often made in Mexican prisons, inspired “The Great Escape,” a cocktail that brings together Meyer’s blended French Whiskey, tepache, tarragon, tamarind and rose.

12) Men’s Health (Refinery Rooftop in NYC)

Instead of settling for a drink benefiting one cause, NYC’s Refinery Rooftop has an “I Give A Sip” campaign of rotating charitable cocktails for a cause.  Each month, a frozen cocktail showcases a charity to raise a glass, awareness and funds for worthy causes.

In November, the cocktail will be a “Vodka Frozen-Hot Chocolate,” a sweet milk chocolate and vodka blend. Priced at $17, proceeds go to the Movember Foundation, which embraces a multifaceted approach to men’s health, including combating prostate and testicular cancer as well as promoting mental health.

Do you know of others cocktails for a cause? Please share in the comments below! 

Further Exploration:

12 Sustainable Breweries, Wineries & Distilleries You Need To Visit [Blog Inspiration]

Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails [Great Reads]

Old Fashioned Cocktail Kit [Travel Sips]

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Katie Foote

Katie Foote may be a physicist by trade but she spent several years travelling the world as much as possible. After four years of semi-nomadic life, she spent a couple years in Auckland, New Zealand and recently moved to Vancouver, Canada. Despite living more traditionally, she has insight on how to travel the world on a graduate student budget (cheap!), explore off-the-beaten-path destinations and authentically experiencing new places by connecting to locals. When she's not doing physics or globe-trotting, she likes kickboxing, yoga and exploring her extraordinary new backyard of British Columbia.

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