How these Tasmanian makers turn water into gin

Grapes make wine, potatoes make vodka and water makes … gin? Find out how a local couple turned a unique idea into a thriving business.

Jenny Carrasco owner of Pure Mist Gin and Water. Pure Mist Gin and Water has recently opened an outlet at Brooke Street Pier with plans for a cellar door in the Huon Valley in 2023. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

We’ve all heard about water being turned into wine, but what about water being turned into gin?

The husband and wife team behind Tasmania’s Pure Mist Gin and Water have identified a unique process which involves capturing water droplets from the winter mist in the Huon Valley and bottling it to make gin.

The mystical idea came about when Jenny Carrasco told husband Justin Hickey about how people from her home town in Chile, South America, captured and bottled mist to grow fresh produce in green houses.

Jenny Carrasco owner of Pure Mist Gin and Water. Pure Mist Gin and Water has recently opened an outlet at Brooke Street Pier with plans for a cellar door in the Huon Valley in 2023. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“My husband, who’s born and raised in the Huon Valley, he said there’s heaps of mist down here we should go have a look,” Ms Carrasco said.

“Next thing you know there was a farm down there for sale which we bought and in February we started gathering the mist.

“We’ve got a special netting set up so when the mist hits the netting, it condenses the particles of water, turning them into droplets of water, and then gravity feeds them down to our watering tank.”

Pure Mist Gin & Water has recently opened an outlet at Brooke Street Pier with plans for a cellar door in the Huon Valley in 2023. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

In less than a year, Pure Mist Gin and Water has produced more than 1000 bottles of gin using carefully selected water droplets.

Their gin and water products, including G & T cans and soon to be released premix gin and sodas, are all made using the purest water droplets from the Huon Valley mist and will be available at Tasmania’s upcoming Taste of Summer Festival.

The gin makers, who only recently opened a store at Brooke St Pier in Hobart, already have plans for a cellar door in the Huon Valley next year where gin lovers can experience first hand the mist catching method.

“We’re going to have our distillery there, and we’re going to have nice netting there so people can and see how the process works, and we’re also looking at putting in a bed and breakfast.”

Originally published as How these Tasmanian makers turn water into gin