Meet Origen, a 'Wellness-Driven' Spirit

By certain estimates, there are 68,000 brands on the global spirits market. With so little to truly distinguish most bottles from their competitors – that is, aside from marketing budgets and brand profiles – the psychology behind how consumers choose a spirit is complicated to unpack.

But what if there was a way to make that choice based on the same principles that inspired the wellness movement?

Entrepreneur Amy Holmwood went about trying to answer that question a few years ago when she founded Origen Holistic Spirits Co., a company inspired by the idea that alcohol can indeed be “wellness-driven.” 

“It was literally like why isn’t anyone using nutrition science to make better alcohol,” Holmwood says about her quest to deliver a new generation of spirit that fits into more body-conscious lifestyles. “My husband and I like to drink. We enjoy having wine and traveling and having a nice cocktail. Why isn’t anyone using food science and plant science to innovate alcohol? And you’re seeing it in other industries, like just in functional beverages. If you go to Whole Foods you’re going to see 100 different drinks on the shelf, kombucha, all these teas, all these things trying to be better.”

A retired financial advisor who returned to school in her fifties to learn more about biotechnology and nutrition science, Holmwood’s interest in disrupting the market stems back to a struggle with childhood asthma, for which she took a typically harsh regimen of meds and steroids, as well as a long-term battle with Lyme Disease (and a hippy mother.)

She says she became a “fanatic” about what she was putting into her body and was determined to “make things better.” She trained her eye on the nutrition-science based holistic spirits market. 

“I started down this road of, What is possible? It was like, How can we create something that we want and hopefully it will taste good?” she said. “Because if we can develop this and it tastes good, wouldn’t that be great? And it would be less toxic.”

The secret behind the science of Origen is a four-ingredient patent-pending holistic formula of green tea leaves, muscadine grapes, artichokes, and elderberry. Holmwood said this combination of antioxidants is at the core of her brand’s plant-based mission.

Origen Vodka is naturally pink from an infusion of these raw plant extracts. It’s touted as “velvety and delicate with subtle cherry fruit notes and a floral bouquet. Origen opens with notes of gentle olive fruit and a hint of salinity with a rounded floral backbone, followed by a balanced acidity carrying through with light vanilla on the finish.”

In many ways, it’s a marriage of science, nature, and artisanal craftsmanship. Distilled 18 times and made from 100% gluten-free, Italian wheat, the key is the scientifically-developed natural blend of plant botanicals it’s infused with (plus there are zero artificial flavors, colors, GMOs, or additives.)

“This is the difference – you’re seeing a lot of these little elixirs that are out there that potentially mitigate some of the toxicity of the drink and maybe make you feel better, it’s more like making you feel better as opposed to just being better while you metabolize the alcohol,” she said. “When we were doing this, we were going for, What’s less toxic to ourselves? We literally wanted to reduce cell damage.”

However, with federal standards in place that don’t allow for the promotion of “healthy” alcohol products, “you can’t just put anything you want in your spirit,” or make claims that aren’t backed by FDA-approved science. 

Origen’s products are backed by three years of research and development, says Holmwood, and they went through a rigorous set of preclinical trials that identify the damage done to key organs during the intake of alcohol.  

And while her company is not legally allowed to promote Origen’s “health benefits,” it’s clear that consumers are eating and drinking differently now, with many seeking thoughtful alternatives to traditional means of catching a buzz. 

“People are more aware of ingredients now, and they care about what they put into their bodies, they also care about where things are sourced and how they’re made, they care about women-owned businesses, supporting local farms,” she says.

Holistic Spirits also counts Woody Harrelson as a celebrity investor. Although she admitted the spirits market is suffering from celebrity-endorsement fatigue, she said Harrleson’s interest was all too organic. 

“Woody got involved because he’s a 30-year vegan and he’s been looking for this kind of product. [He and his wife tested the product] and he said, ‘I want to get involved in this company, I want to help this idea, this cause.’ He’s a person that really cares about what he puts into his body and he’s the perfect representation of our consumer … we’re trying to figure out an authentic way for him to help him promote the brand.”