Anyone fancy a banana peel daiquiri?

Saving the planet might be the last thing on your mind when sipping your evening drink.

But more and more drinks are using food waste as a key ingredient, meaning you can do your part while enjoying what’s in your glass.

According to industry expert WRAP, the UK produces a staggering 9.5 million tonnes of food waste a year, worth more than £19 billion.

Now beers and spirits made from food waste are becoming big business, with distillers infusing spirits with discarded fruit and brewers using surplus bread and cereal to make beers.

But are they still tasty and virtuous? Our beverage expert Helen McGinn puts them to the test. . .

A TOAST TO TOAST

Toast Ale Craft Lager, 330ml, £2, Ocado

The idea of ​​making excess bread-based beer originated almost a decade ago and Toast is now one of the leading beer brands tackling food waste in the UK.

To date, it has used three million slices of surplus bread from bakeries and supermarkets to make its beer.

Bread is used in the brewing process, along with malted barley and European hops, and this one really does what it says on the tin. It’s crunchy and refreshing with a reassuringly hoppy taste. 8/10

GET OUT OF HIS ROOF

Discarded Banana Peel Rum, 70cl, £31.25, thewhiskyexchange.com

This brilliant brand is all about creating spirits from waste food, including vodka from grape skins, vermouth from cascara (the discarded fruit of the coffee cherry), and this – my favorite – rum made from discarded banana skins sourced from a food flavoring manufacturer.

The base is Caribbean rum infused for two weeks with unwanted banana peel, and the result is smooth and wonderfully fruity.

Drink it on its own, mix it with ginger ale or use it in a daiquiri. A real tropical delight! 7/10

FLAKE SEVEN

Seven Brothers Thrown Away IPA, 440ml, £2.50, cubicles

Started by (funnily enough) seven brothers almost a decade ago, this impressive outfit from Salford teamed up with Kellogg’s to make beer from rejected cornflakes (which are too big or too small to make into a packet).

There’s a real hint of grain to it, followed closely by lots of citrus and tropical aromas from the Chinook and Amarillo hops.

Fresh and biscuity, this is one to sip and savor – just maybe not for breakfast. 9/10

DELICIOUS WONKER

Served Hard Seltzer Variety Pack, 6 x 250ml, £12, Ocado

Brothers Dean and Ryan Ginsberg launched this beverage company in 2019.

They use imperfect or “bad” fruit to steep four times distilled vodka and sparkling water to make so-called hard seltzers, and singer Ellie Goulding is such a fan that she invested in the company.

Flavors include lime and raspberry and they taste brilliantly crunchy, fresh and fruity.

But they are so easy to drink that you might forget they contain alcohol (4 percent alc). 6/10

UDDERLY

Black Cow Vodka, 70cl, £29, Morrisons

When Dorset dairy farmer Jason Barber and his friend Archie wanted to make something from whey (the part left over from milk after making cheese), they decided vodka was the answer.

The result is a triple-filtered vodka that is clean and clear with a creamy texture. Smooth enough to sip on its own, it’s also great in a vodka martini.

To make a Dirty Cow, place 50ml of Black Cow Vodka in a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice, add 20ml of dry white vermouth and a teaspoon of olive brine from a jar of olives.

Shake and strain into a martini glass and garnish with an olive. 8/10

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS

Hyke Gin, 70cl, £29.24, masterofmalt.com

The company behind this gin specializes in making spirits from surplus food – in this case it’s unwanted table grapes from UK supermarkets.

The grapes are distilled and then infused with a long list of botanicals, including juniper (the main botanical used in gin), South African rooibos leaves and cumin leaves, coriander, cardamom and lemon peel.

Fresh and crisp with a comforting hint of juniper pine, it’s a refreshingly sustainable option for your evening G&T. 7/10

RIPE AND RUMMY

Trash & Treasure spiced botanical rum, 70cl, £34, warnersdistillery.com

Tom Warner makes a range of award-winning gins on his Northamptonshire farm, but it’s his rum that really comes into its own.

Made using overripe bananas, discarded fruit peels and dandelion roots, these waste ingredients are distilled and infused with Jamaican white rum to produce quite a complex spirit with fruit and spice on the palate.

Try it on its own or use it to make a banana daiquiri. 8/10

• Helen’s book The Knackered Mother’s Wine Guide is out now.