11 Queer-Owned Drink Brands You Need to Know for Pride Month
And every month!
Every year as the weather warms and days lengthen, many of us look forward to June, known by many as Pride Month, a celebration of the ongoing struggle for LGBTQIA+ (i.e., Queer) liberation that was catalyzed by the Stonewall uprisings on June 27th, 1969. In honor of that, many big brands release Pride-related merchandise as a well-intentioned, if perhaps slightly hollow, display of support of the queer community. But if you want to take your support a step further, here are 11 Queer-owned craft spirits brands to support this pride month — and every month.
Future Gin was founded by four Southern California-based women who wanted to craft a gin that reflected the unique terroir of the region. It’s made with classic gin botanicals like juniper and coriander plus SoCal flavors like avocado leaf, Meyer lemon and grape leaves to deliver a singular gin bouquet. Plus, they allocate 10% of sales to local social justice causes.
This distillery based out of Pawtucket Rhode Island has been making their Rhodium line of spirits since 2019. The distillery’s co-founders drew on their backgrounds as foragers and homebrewers to craft a substantial line of spirits that includes vodka, gin, limoncello and even a red vodka that features local New England cherries and cranberries.
Moonshine might not be on everyone’s list for essential back bar items, but don’t write it off just yet. This charcoal-filtered blend of rye and molasses distillates is a far cry from the back-country rotgut you think of when you hear the word “moonshine.” Saint Luna’s moonshine can be substituted for vodka, rum or even tequila in your favorite cocktail recipes.
Julie Reiner, the legendary bartender responsible for iconic NYC drinking spots such as Flatiron Lounge, Clover Club and Milady’s teamed up with bartender Tom Macy to release a line of ready-to-drink cocktails in the summer of 2020. Their goal was to re-imagine what a canned cocktail could be by using premium spirits and high-quality ingredients.
Formed by a trio in 2020, Suncliffe’s goal is to highlight Arizona plant life and support the local ecology. During Covid lockdown-era hikes through Sedona, the team gathered three types of juniper as well as elderflower and ponderosa pine bark to make this gin. Additionally, the brand supports the Navajo Water Project, another queer-led organization that helps to provide safe drinking water to local indigenous communities.
This New York City-based duo set out to make a “farm-to-disco” vodka made from 100% organic corn distilled in their Yonkers, NY distillery. The liquid is then charcoal filtered three times to remove harshness and impurities. Supergay also claims to allocate a portion of profits to local LGBTQIA+ organizations.
Non-alcoholic spirits have come a long way towards holding their own against conventional, ethanol-based spirits, and Woodnose’s Sacré makes a very good case for the legitimacy of the category. Made by a husband-and-husband duo in Vermont from an intriguing barrel-aged mixture of maple syrup and coffee. It has a bit of a learning curve when it comes to mixing, but it’s well worth the effort.
Cocktail bitters are an essential component of many drinks and are one of the most powerful tools in a drink-makers toolkit for their ability to add a concentrated hit of aromatics and structure to cocktails. 18.21 offers a line of seven small batch bitters including Japanese chili and lime and Earl Grey. Additionally, they produce a range of syrups, mixers and even carbonated sodas like ginger and tonic.
Honeybees are at the center of this upstate New York distillery. Founded by a former magazine publisher, Catskill Provisions offers a hefty range of spirits from traditional gin and vodka to amaro and a honey whiskey. Recognizing that bees are responsible for the agriculture that makes spirits possible, they donate 1% of their sales to environmental organizations like the NRDC and Sierra Club.
The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is an organization that certifies Queer-owned businesses, helping businesses attain supplier diversity goals. Treecraft claims to be one of only two NGLCC-certified distilleries in the country. They’re also one of the most uniquely situated distilleries in the nation, sitting on San Francisco’s Treasure Island, which connects the two spans of the Bay Bridge. They make three different kinds of gin, plus vodka, chocolate bourbon, whiskey and rum.
This shochu brand might be familiar to those who remember the iconic inebriated New Year’s Eve performance by Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper in 2021, but this spirit is known for having a slightly lower alcohol concentration than conventional spirits. Shochu is a Japanese spirit which can be made from a variety of base ingredients, in this case rice. This can be used as a substitute in many of your favorite cocktails that call for a white spirit like Daiquiri, Mojitos, and Margaritas.
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