One is a distillery with an inn. The other is a lodge with a distillery located next door. Natural booze is the common theme. In case you did not read it on Green Lodging News, last July the Marble Distilling Co. & The Distillery Inn was named as a 2017 Green Hotelier Award Winner and the only North American property to be recognized. The business is in Carbondale, Colo. If you go to the enterprise’s website, it is clear the primary business is a distillery but there are also five luxury hotel suites available. The Marble Distilling Company’s motto is “Drink Sustainably”. The company recaptures 100 percent of its process water and reuses energy harvested from the distillation process to heat its facility. Through this process the company has saved more than 4 million gallons of water annually and captured enough energy to heat 20 homes. All grains are sourced locally and all stillage from the distillery is sent to local Carbondale ranchers.
The lodge with a distillery is the Copal Tree Lodge in Punta Gorda, Belize. Copal Tree Distillery is an initiative to support sustainable agriculture causes in Southern Belize via producing and selling premium organic spirits. This winter, the lodge introduced the Copal Tree Distillery. As part of the new initiative, the distillery has begun combining heirloom sugar cane and spices grown on the property to create a premium spirit that will be aged and bottled in the heart of the rainforest. The new craft distillery will utilize high quality inputs and natural rain water to produce Coppalli Rum, available starting in June 2018.
Funds from Distillery to Supply Grants
Copal Tree Distillery is designed to operate as a zero-impact system, powered by sustainable regenerative biomass and supporting the full-circle conversion of production waste into agricultural inputs. As part of the new program, funds from the distillery will supply grants for local children to continue their education into high school, a rarity for low-income families in Belize where public schools only reach the 8th grade.
Guests will be able to taste Copal Tree Distillery’s newest rum exports at the lodge’s rum bar, where they can sip and savor a variety of cocktails made from local ingredients. As part of this initiative, Copal Tree Distillery is launching a range of immersion experiences that start from the cane field and finish at the bar, as well as a new Farm-to-Table All-Inclusive package.
