Bottle Tree Distillery lays claim to being Townsville’s first distillery

A former butcher who used to work on remote cattle stations is using his bush craft to create some unique Townsville spirits.

Greg and Tracey Baker of Black River runs Bottle Tree Distillery. Photo: SUPPLIED

A FORMER butcher who used to work on remote cattle stations is using his bush craft to create some unique Townsville spirits.

Greg Baker of Black River launched Bottle Tree Distillery with his wife Tracey in November 2018 and has laid claimed to owning Townsville’s first distillery.

It comes after the Heritage Exchange lodged a development application to build a micro distillery in its rum garden.

“The idea has been going for a number of years to get spirits made from local products,” he said.

“At the moment we’ve released three lines.”

Mr Baker said one of his most popular spirits was called the Trinity and shared characteristics of whiskey, rum and brandy because it was made of molasses, corn and bananas — giving the spirit its name.

“Trinity uses molasses so it passes as a rum, it uses corn so it’s a whiskey, and it uses banana so it’s a brandy,” he said.

“So using the three elements it comes between the three of them.”

Other spirits include the Masau, which is made using the same ingredients then aged on local timber and the Basilcello, double distilled and aged on basil.

“You can make mojitos (with the Basilcello) and it makes really nice sun rises,” he said.

Mr Baker said his knowledge of botanicals which could be used in spirits was developed during his time working on cattle stations.

“I worked on cattle stations in western Queensland so I got to know my trees,” he said.

He said extensive research went into crafting each of the spirits, which could be enjoyed straight due to each spirits 22 per cent alcohol content or mixed in a cocktail.

Mr Baker said business had been growing slowly which suited him as he worked on refining each spirit. He is now in the process of producing small 50ml bottles to be served on flights.

He has also started on a pineapple gin, which uses fruit from Rollingstone and was in the process of getting a second 100 litre still to keep up with production demands.

Originally published as Bottle Tree Distillery lays claim to being Townsville’s first distillery