So, you’re ready to embark on the exciting journey of organic beer home-brewery. Congratulations on your step towards making handcrafted beer; you’ll be rewarded with a superior beer that’s full of flavor, personality and nutrition. Yes, nutrition! A good small-batch beer contains iron, magnesium, bone-protecting silicone and heart-protective antioxidants. Choose organic ingredients for a beer that’s not only better for your body, but also for the land that the ingredients came from.

It’s a beautiful spring day: a crisp breeze blows gently through sun-kissed leaves on recently budding trees in a refreshed, lime green landscape. You’re wearing your airy Sunday sundress, listening to lazy jazz croon out of iTunes, while kicking back on the front porch. Few other things could complete this long-awaited day... except for, maybe, a chilled, spiked cocktail.

Luckily for you, those blossoming herbs on your windowsill are all you’ll need to shake up a seasonal spring cocktail in just seconds. Here are 5 herbed spring cocktail recipes we love. 

Labels can cause confusion for even the most discerning of consumers. “All-natural,” “organic,” “non-GMO”; a handbook of keywords and acronyms is practically required to find the most genuine products. This label-induced uncertainty often reaches its greatest height when it comes to discovering organic wines, a task we’ve already deemed tricky. Step in Our Daily Red. 

Even the most experienced sommelier is regularly surprised by wine. Since Biblical times, the ancient crafty work of vintners has played a critical role in society by fermenting and aging the juice of grapes. It has ceremonial and spiritual applications, medicinal properties and of course that cheek-reddening effect even the best blushes can't duplicate. It makes us feel good and goes great with almost any dinner—but only if you pick the right wine. And, nowadays, with so many varieties and styles, how do you know which ones to drink?

Living in New England for several years instills a certain amount of denial. For example, a snowstorm on the first day of spring frequently yields a unique array of coping mechanisms, such as inappropriate footwear (read: flip-flops at 36°F) and obscene amounts of money spent on tropical destination travel.

The Bloody Mary is a special cocktail, acceptable on breakfast tables and brunch buffets around the world, but also welcome at the bar as afternoon lingers into evening.

The term “Bloody Mary” usually refers to Queen Mary I of England, but the origins of the classic cocktail are hotly disputed. In fact, a Hollywood actress named Mary Pickford probably inspired the drink’s creation in the early part of this century. The Bloody Mary caught on and continues to be one of the most popular cocktails in the world.

A new iPhone app, Organic Wine Find, helps you search for organic wines. Finding organic wine with another wine app, or heaven forbid, without any technology at all, may actually be harder to do than you think. Many vintners do not include the word "organic" on their product label names, making it easy to pass right by a great organic choice, and for apps that aren't specifically designed to recognize organic wines, it may be extremely challenging.

I'm going to talk about making Valentine's Day cocktails, so if you can't stomach the notion that a drink can be both pink and good, this won't be for you. Come to think of it, if you're unable to be seen – and I'm addressing a certain type of guy – sipping a rose-colored cocktail, you've either been drinking the wrong stuff or have deeper issues to resolve. For the rest of you intrepid tipplers (unfussy drunks, too), here are a few pink-hued drinks that should make your Valentine swoon.

No matter which team you are rooting for this year, pair your cheers with one of these organic and/or gluten-free beers:

“Wine is sure proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Even Benjamin Franklin understood that along “early to bed, early to rise,” humans also need the sensual pleasures of wine in their lives. New sustainable practices have made your glass of vino even more guilt-free, and in 2011 we will continue to see conscious farming flourish from the bottle to the grape.