BRIDPORT DISTILLING CO

Chris and Jess Carins have recently opened one of Tasmania’s newest distilleries, serving up spirit tastings, cocktails and tapas from a converted church in Bridport in the state’s North East.

Both grew up in the area and although they moved interstate for a while to study and further their careers, they are excited to be back and serving their boutique gins to locals and tourists.

Chris, 38, spent his childhood on a family dairy farm at Legerwood, just outside Scottsdale, and began studying agriculture at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.

But he soon found another career path calling him.

“I kind of got halfway through the degree and thought this might not be for me,’’ he explains.

“There was a job opening up at Pipers Brook as a cellarhand that I thought might be better suited for me. I liked wine. I stayed in that job for about six years. And I got a passion for the creating side of thing.’’

His partner at the time, Jess – now his wife – was working as a nurse and wanted to move to Queensland to study naturopathy.

And Chris was fortunate to land a job as a brewer for Burleigh Brewing.

“The skills did sort of intertwine between wine making and brewing,’’ he says.

“I loved brewing up there on the Gold Coast.’’

But Jess was homesick, and returned to Tasmania, luring her husband back with the promise of opening his own brewery.

So he got his old job back at the winery part-time, while setting up Little Rivers Brewing (littlerivers.com.au) in Scottsdale almost 10 years ago.

The business was growing nicely but then Covid hit.

“It was a pretty scary time,’’ Chris recalls.

“Our accountant said ‘stop production, just take care of your cash flow’.’’

So Chris, who had previously created a whisky wash in partnership with nearby Fannys Bay Distillery, decided to play around with spirits in a 60L pot still.

“I produced a couple of different types of gin and they tasted pretty good,’’ he says.

He sold small quantities through his cellar door but that quickly grew.

He was running out of room at Scottsdale but received a call from friends to say they had just purchased a church in the main street of Bridport.

“They said how about you move your distillery down here,’’ Chris recalls.

“And it was a no-brainer to move it there … it’s very much a tourist town, it’s a hive of activity through the summer months, the population grows ten-fold.’’

Bridport Distilling Co cellar door and cocktail bar opened the weekend before Easter, and

Chris says the response to the small-batch distillery has “been great”.

“Weekends have been really, really busy,’’ he says.

“It’s surprising how many people travel just to come to our venue. And winter months in Tassie the past couple of years have been busier than normal with lots of people choosing to travel in their own state.’’

The Bridport Distilling Co range includes a fresh and citrusy Forager Gin featuring local ingredients like lemon myrtle, kunzea and pepperberry; a purple Lavender Gin featuring Bridestowe Estate lavender; a Coastal Gin infused with aquatic botanicals; and a Sand & Sea Gin which is a light blue gin with gold glitter that settles on the bottom to mimic sand. Chris also makes Spiced Rum and a Coffee Liqueur.

There’s a scallop shell gin in the pipeline, to coincide with Bridport’s annual Tassie Scallop Fiesta on July 31, plus some other “weird and wonderful” botanical combinations.

“That’s what I love about making gin,’’ Chris says.

“Just that creativity, there are so many different flavours that can be produced from different ingredients. I like to think that I use certain aspects of each of the industries I’ve worked in when creating flavours. And there are so many things you can do with gin, cocktail-wise, as well.’’

He and Jess, who live on a 4ha farm near Scottsdale, actually employed a cocktail consultant to create the perfect cocktails to showcase their gins.

Chris says becoming a distiller has been a “steep learning curve’’ but one which was made easier by the support of other Tasmanian distillers who are generous with sharing their knowledge.

Jess, 35, takes care of the admin and management side of both the brewery and the distillery, while Chris is focused on product creation and testing.

“She gets a raw deal,’’ he laughs.

“She probably does more work than any of us do, while I get to do the creative side of things. But we’re loving it, what’s not to enjoy?’’

SPIRIT OF BRUNY

Mark Mather forged a career as an electrician and later retrained as a doctor before deciding he was more suited to making gin.

The 60-year-old old, who lives on Bruny Island with his wife Lorrell Linda, began experimenting with spirits in 2016 and started Spirit of Bruny distillery, launching his signature White Wallaby Gin late last year.

“I’d been a sparky (electrician) since I left school, and then many years later I got bored, I suppose you’d say, and I went to uni and then practised medicine for three years,’’ Mather explains.

“But I didn’t enjoy it enough to put up with the massive hours so I decided to do something more relaxing.’’

The keen home brewer started doing some off-grid solar electrical work while also turning his attention to making spirits.

“I started looking around at other things that I might have an interest in and distilling spirits was one of those things that developed into a real passion,’’ he says.

“I experimented with vodka and rums, seeing what I could make, particularly from local ingredients. I had no idea gin would become such a strong interest of mine. But I discovered that making gin was a hell of a lot of fun – drinking it, tasting it, and developing the flavours. I can see why gin is such a strong component of the spirits industry.’’

He also found it a lot less stressful than working as a doctor, but still likes that distilling brings together his interests in science, physics and steam-driven gadgets. Meanwhile his wife, a pilates instructor, did the original pencil drawing for the White Wallaby Gin label, which was inspired by the white wallabies that live on their coastal property.

“There’s totally no stress,’’ Mather laughs of the job.

“It’s still got a fair bit of science involved, and you need to be really critical with way you do things to get a consistently good product.

“But I really love it.’’

Born in England, Mather moved to Tasmania with his family when he was six. He originally lived in Lenah Valley and later Kingston, but has spent the bulk of his adult life in the Channel region, including the past 10 years on Bruny Island which he says is a perfect place for making gin with such fresh water and local botanicals like lemon myrtle and pepperberry.

“You can make very good gin here with the right ingredients,’’ he says.

Mather sells White Wallaby Gin at the Lunawanna Makers and Produce Market held regularly on Bruny Island and is sometimes at Hobart’s Farm Gate Market. He also sells from his closed cellar door by appointment and online (spiritofbruny.com.au), while local stockists include Bruny Island House of Whisky and Pennicott’s Bruny Island Cruises Restaurant, and Hobart eateries Suzie Luck’s, La Sardina Loca and Hadley’s Orient Hotel.

He hopes to add a winter gin to his range and is considering expanding his cellar door but is mindful of not over complicating things.

“I’d love to, on the one hand, have an open cellar door, but that also means people coming here and our peaceful lifestyle becomes a lot less peaceful,’’ Mather explains.

“And while I love people, it’s all a balancing act … we’d have to look at running costs, and employing staff. So it’s something we’re just thinking about at the moment, we’re not in any hurry, we really are a microdistillery and we’re really happy pottering and doing what we’re doing.’’

TASMANIAN TONIC COMPANY

Dina and Andrew Gregson were sailing on a yacht in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, when they decided to start a tonic company in Tasmania.

Andrew grew up in Launceston, but he and his Canadian-born wife had spent more than a decade working interstate and overseas in Sydney, Moscow and Amsterdam, before planning to live on a yacht and sail the world until their then 12-year-old daughter Grace (who was registered in a distance-education program) was old enough to go to university.

But one surprising family discussion – held while Dina and Andrew were enjoying a bottle of gin – set them on an entirely different course.

“When we left Europe, our intention had been to sail around with our daughter until she went to university,’’ Dina explains.

“We were on a yacht between Greece and Turkey and she came upstairs and said to us, ‘I can’t do this. I love you both, but if you make me do this I’m going to hate my childhood’.’’

We were drinking a bottle of gin at the time – we cried into our bottle of gin – and we asked her ‘well, if you don’t want to do this, where do you want to go?’

“She said ‘I was born in Tasmania but I’ve never lived there, do you think I could try there?’.’’

By this stage the couple had run out of tonic for their gin, and that sparked an idea for a new business venture.

From previous trips to Tasmania to visit family and friends they knew the spirit industry was booming. But what good was a top-quality local spirit, if you didn’t have an equally top-quality local tonic to mix it with?

They returned to Tasmania on December 21, 2018 and by December 26 had made their first bottle of tonic. By mid-January they were selling bottles of tonic at markets, and the Tasmanian Tonic Company (tasmaniantoniccompany.com.au) took off from there.

Initially the business sold syrups that could be added to soda water to make tonic. And that concept was popular, but customers kept asking for a more convenient option for when they went out, and a ready-to-drink range of tonic in a can was launched about 18 months ago.

Dina says drinkers were familiar with Indian and Mediterranean tonics, but she and Andrew wanted to create a range of Australian tonics that would perfectly suit Australian gins, with ingredients like Kakadu plum, lilly pilly and pepperberry.

The tonic, which is sold in Tasmania, interstate and also in Singapore, has been so popular the Gregsons now make their own gin, vodka and whisky and have launched a ready-to-drink spirit range called Spirited.

They are also preparing to open a function space at their large commercial canning factory and distillery at Cambridge.

Dina admits it “couldn’t get any more different” to the couple’s previous careers, but they love it.

Andrew previously worked as a corporate lawyer, while Dina had worked in corporate governance as a senior adviser in the public and private sectors.

“But I’m also a gin hag from way back,’’ she laughs.

“And Andrew has his chef’s ticket.’’

So together they were confident they could create something special.

“To be honest, we saw a gap in the market,’’ she says. “We both wanted to complement what was already happening in Tasmania, not compete with it. At the time there were 60 distillers making gin, and we thought ‘well, we’ll make them tonic’.’’

Many businesses suffered during the pandemic, but Tasmanian Tonic Company continued to grow, helped by small business grants from the state government.

Grace is now 15 and in Year 10 at St Michael’s Collegiate and Dina says she has been “instrumental” in building the business and ensuring her parents are choosing the most environmentally-sound manufacturing and packing options and making sure the growing business has the smallest-possible environmental footprint.

Dina says if it wasn’t for Grace, they would likely never have ended up back in Tasmania, running a successful tonic and spirit business.

But they’re delighted with the way things have turned out.

“It is a perpetual adventure,’’ Dina says.

“Sort of like the choose-you-own-adventure books we read as kids! So far, we have chosen the right path at each junction.’’

SOCIETY SALAMANCA

There are more than 80 Tassie gins from about 35 distilleries on the menu at Society Salamanca and co-owner Ange Nichols says locals and tourists can’t get enough of Tassie spirits.

“When we opened in 2015 we had 12 different bottles of gin and we thought that was pretty impressive,’’ Nichols laughs.

“Now we have 150 gins on the back bar. We have always prioritised stocking local spirits and there was a time we featured quite a lot of mainland Australia gin as well as international gin. But we actually found ourselves running out of room on the shelves (due to the growing number of Tassie gins now available) so we’ve actually starting culling international gins from our list and replacing them with more and more local distilleries.’’

She says there are many great reasons to drink Tassie gin.

“Obviously it’s very ‘of place’, and it’s great to support local distilleries,’’ Nichols says.

“But it’s actually also just outstanding quality. It’s some of the best in the world and that’s reflected in the awards Tasmanian gins have been winning. But it’s also a result of what people want … we’ve found both locals and visitors would prefer to drink Tasmanian gin.’’

And the wide range of botanical combinations, along with the affordable price point, means there’s a gin to suit everyone.

“Gin is so much more than juniper – there are so many unique options now,’’ Nichols says.

Tassie offerings include 7K Distillery’s Dry Chilli Gin, Forty Spotted’s Bush Honey Gin, Grower’s Own Saffron Gin, Section 44 Lemon Myrtle Gin, McHenry Butterfly Gin, Adam’s Blueberry and Lavender Gin, Dasher + Fisher Ocean Gin, Hartshorn Sheep Whey Gin, and Turner Stillhouse Barrel Rested Chardonnay Gin.

“Fruit gins are huge as well,’’ Nichols says, adding that Littlewood Berry Farm’s Strawberry ‘Jam’ Gin is one of the most popular at Society.

“They have opened the door to people who thought they didn’t like gin. They are a sweeter option, with the natural sweetness from fruit. And they’re also such a fantastic way for distillers to collaborate with local farmers to use produce that would otherwise go to waste.’’

Gin was initially considered a bit of an afterthought, as many whisky distilleries turned to gin as a way to diversify and bring in money with a quick and delicious product that didn’t take years to age.

But it has now become a strong category in its own right.

“Gin is also so easy to drink, and it’s so versatile,” Nichols says.

Society makes its own low-sugar tonic water, designed especially to match the botanicals found in local gin, which is perfect for a simple gin and tonic. Many drinkers also enjoy gin with soda.

Tasting paddles are popular, as are cocktails, with the Society Sour – featuring McHenry Classic Dry Gin and Aperol, shaken with fresh citrus, sugar and egg white to create a meringue-like foam, then rimmed with sherbet – among the most popular.

“We encourage people to try gin neat, then try it again once they’ve added tonic, then add a garnish and see how it evolves,’’ Nichols says.

“You don’t need to invest in lots of gin at home, you can just have one bottle and change up the garnish to create different flavours.’’

Dehydrated fruit like apple, pear and citrus work well, along with fresh lemon and lime. Feijoas and prickly pear can add new flavours, as well as lavender, kunzea, rosemary, sage, thyme and wakame.

Nichols says a rise in gin-themed events is introducing Tasmanians to a wider range of Tassie gins.

The annual Ginuary gin festival, held at Hobart’s Goods Shed in January, brings together about 30 stallholders offering samples of their products. The Urban Cocktail Trail has run twice in Hobart in the past year, initially featuring bars around the Hobart waterfront and then the Midtown district.

Numerous venues will be celebrating World Gin Day on Saturday June 11 – a 1920s themed gin event, Prohibited, will be held in Hobart at a mystery venue (facebook.com/prohibitedtas). Meanwhile Society Salamanca will extend opening hours for the day and $1 from every gin sold will be donated to UNICEF’s Ukraine Emergency Appeal.•