By Kristen Kuchar

The Good Food Foundation helps celebrate food and drink businesses that produce delicious and responsible products.

The annual Good Food Awards sees more than 2,000 entries from all 50 states and awards “the exceptional food crafters who top the charts in a Blind Tasting and meet the environmental and social responsibility standards of the Good Food Awards.”

The award winners were recently named and Colorado was well represented.

For RedCamper, which won a fourth Good Food Award in three years, it’s a humbling experience and a great honor. “We have always worked extremely hard to source ethically while creating the finest product possible and to be recognized by an organization that has the highest environmental, social and taste standards is really pretty incredible,” says founder Maura Gramzinski.

Following are the boozy Colorado businesses that took home awards:

RedCamper

Chile Bourbon Cocktail Cherries are made with Laws Whiskey House Bourbon along with Guajillo Chile, Habanero Chile and Chile Piquin. Besides using the cherries to garnish a spicy Old Fashioned or other cocktail, the syrup can be used for a drink mix. Located in Denver, RedCamper makes plenty of drink-inspired and cheeseboard- and picnic-friendly items, such as Colorado Whiskey Peach Preserves, Blueberry Gin Preserves and Tequila Jalapeno Preserves.

Willoughby Bourbon Barrel Aged Honey

Willoughby Specialty Foods produces honey from beehives located in Erie. Raw Light Honey and Raw Dark Honey are produced as well as the Good Food Award-winning Bourbon Barrel Aged Honey. Also available is a honey face scrub, beeswax lip balm, honey vinegar, chocolate covered honeycomb and more.

Ska Brewing Co.

Ska Brewing’s smoothie-inspired Pink Vapor Stew won for the second year. The sour beer is inspired by co-founder and CEO Dave Thibodeau’s morning juice routine, brewed with root vegetables such as ginger, carrots, beets and apples, along with Citra and Mandarina Bavaria hops. The end result is a bright pink beer described as a tropical medley of citrus, sour and tart flavors.

Dry Land Distillers

Dry Land Distillers took home a prize for the Cactus Spirit, which is distilled from native prickly pear cactus. This unique, smoky spirit has also been awarded a Gold Medal at the Denver International Spirits Competition and a Bronze Medal at the London International Spirits Competition. The Longmont distillery also produces whiskey, gin and rum, as well as handcrafted cocktails that are available in their Main Street tasting room.

Snow Capped Cider

Snow Capped Cider won for Ashmead’s Kernel, a single-varietal cider made from the Ashmead’s Kernel apple, a traditional English heirloom variety. The cider has previously won at the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition. All Snow Capped ciders are made from 100 percent Colorado estate-grown fruit.

Stem Ciders

As part of the botanical series at Stem Ciders, the Carrot, Ginger, Turmeric canned cider took home an award this year. It’s made with carrot and ginger juice and turmeric spice combined with the fermented dry cider base, and it’s only 100 calories. Leaves is another cider in this series, made with freshly brewed organic black and oolong teas, lemongrass and lemon verbena.

DRAM

Salida-based DRAM produces CBD-infused products, herbal bitters, teas and syrups. Not one but three of their items were Good Food Award winners, including the Sweetgrass Adaptogenic CBD-infused Sparkling Water and Adaptogenic Mushroom Cola. The Hair of the Dog Bitters is suggested with whiskey or bourbon, making it great for an Old-Fashioned or Manhattan. Alternatively, the bitters can also be used in tea or soda water.

Kristen Kuchar is a freelance writer covering food, libations, music and other Colorado gatherings.