WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS,
MAKE GIN
A significant medical diagnosis in late 2020 prompted us to pause and led to us crafting our own gin. Mark (Longy) became intrigued by the notion of employing traditional distillation techniques for gin-making, focusing on using pure ingredients.
He began by fermenting various grains: primarily wheat, oats, and barley. A copper still, received as a Christmas 2020 gift, was installed in the garage, and the initial distillation took place in January 2021.
Nico developed the gin recipes, drawing inspiration from seasonal garden produce. Summer had yielded fruit-laden branches on orchard trees, luscious sweet strawberries, and a vegetable garden full of nasturtiums, marigolds, and basil in amongst the tomatoes. With the changing seasons came shifting flavours, giving rise to our Seasonal Gins.
The Queenstown region is home to some of the best gin distilleries in New Zealand for a very good reason. The purity of the air and water here and the extremes of temperature in winter and summer combine to create an intensity of flavour in our produce that is unmatched anywhere else. Our proximity to the renowned fruit bowls of Central Otago ensure we use the freshest ingredients of the season.
Drift Bay Distilling Co Limited draws water from a private aquifer beneath The Remarkables mountain range. This aquifer, initially formed by glacial melt that shaped The Remarkables, now gets replenished by pristine snowmelt, filtering through extensive rock layers. It is easy to understand why our gins taste so vibrant and clean.
We are proud to share our gins with you and hope they lead you to your own moments of bliss.
LONGY’S DIAGNOSIS…
I received an MS diagnosis in 2020, and believe me, it’s a prick of a disease. It erodes the protective myelin around brain nerves and affects each person uniquely.
Although the diagnosis clarified certain symptoms and sensations, I resolved not to be defined by MS. I was determined to thrive despite the muncher in my brain.
I realised golf would increasingly become a challenge and that I needed a new obsession. Enter distilling, in particular, gin-making. Balancing chemistry, planning, recipe crafting, tasting and even convoluted spreadsheets got me hooked on this hobby-turned-business.
The joke is, I’ve elevated my challenges – running a distillation takes longer than 2 rounds of golf.
We donate a percentage of profits to MS NZ and MS Australia to help continue their efforts in research for new treatments and hopefully even a cure. They also do valuable work in supporting people who live with MS.
GALLERY
