New products - New drinks!

When new products are coming to the end of the production process they get passed across to our hospitality team. Our hospitality team are the people who serve you in our home in Rosebery, Sydney or at events across the country. We’re passionate about drinks, and we all have far too much to say about them. We’re pretty lucky to have landed a job that gives us the chance to do so, every day.

Depending on the spirit we approach the process slightly differently. However, there are some constants.

For a gin we understand that a large percentage winds up in a G&T. So we start there. We line up a row of glasses, a very, very long row. And into each we pour 10mls of gin. Behind each glass we place a small bottle of every tonic available on the market. As we work our way along the line. We build in flavour, going from relatively neutral tonics, to the more expressive, imposing kind - we might start with dry or Indian tonics before going off in fruity or spiced directions. Regardless of the tonic we add precisely 30mls and two ice cubes.

It might sound like hyperbole but the results are strikingly different. Some of my favourite tonics collapse under the weight of a feisty gin, and vice versa. It doesn’t mean that either is bad, but just like dating it means true companionship is a rare and wonderful thing. When you encounter it, you should hold on to it. Like Bone Dry Gin and Strangelove No 8 - some things are just made to be together.

This week we worked through this process with our latest Tailored Gin preset. These gins are available via our website’s Tailored Spirits page. If you are nervous about playing with the flavours yourself we’ve done some heavy lifting for you, we’ve created some options for you to pick. You can have faith they taste good.

Once we have our three favourites we push the rest back. And then we start with garnishes. Again, the unexpected is often the winner. Sometimes it’s mango that wins. Mango? Who the hell came up with that? Someone who had tried every citrus, every herb, and every fruit, that’s who.

Whatever the outcome I get to write about it. I get to tell people that this gin tastes like XYZ, and that if you want to really see it shine, try it with this tonic and that garnish. It brings me so much joy to see people try that version and hear them say “THIS is my new favourite G&T”.

Once we’ve nailed that process we work our way down the list of classics. Sometimes they’re obscure classics, but they’re brought to mind by a feature botanical or tasting note. But before the obscure drinks there is always a Martini, always a Negroni, a sour and a spritz. Because we’re not reinventing the wheel here, we’re reimagining gin. And once that gin is out in the world, people are going to do what they do with gins - they’re going to drink them, in a variety of ways that they enjoy.

The Martini is as complex a process as a G&T. There are many vermouths and many garnishes. But what really throws the variations out of control is the endless ratios, the dry to wet, the dirty to clean. What happens to this gin when the ratio is 50ml gin to 10ml Dolin Dry, versus 55ml gin to 5ml Dolin, versus the same thing but with Noilly Prat. You may not believe me but somewhere in that game is a moment of perfection. When people ask me how I like my Martinis it’s not a quick and simple answer. It depends on the gin, it depends on the vermouth, and it depends on the way you treat both.

When we approach aged spirits the process doesn’t stray too far from the formula. Say we’re looking at future newcomer - Double Malt Whisky, which is part of the Fundamental Spirits range (heads up, it’s launching in September). It’s made with local, sustainably sourced ingredients and is built to serve as the base for your favourite drinks.

Double Malt is an incredibly important product for us. It’s the culmination of years of work, the building of a new state-of-the-art distillery, and a deep project of passion for the whole team. To be able to produce a whisky that is accessible, both in price and palate is something we’re immensely proud of. Long before this nectar from the gods landed on our hospitality desks we were thinking about it and talking about it. We’ve got a shortlist of 25 drinks we’re immediately going to start playing with. We’ll be working out our favourite Highball, our favourite Manhattan (the whisky drinkers’ Martini - and of course we won’t forget all the NYC borough variations - the Red Hook, Greenpoint, Brooklyn et al), we’ll be trying it in sours, in Old Fashioneds, in Boulevardiers (the whisky drinkers’ Negroni). But for this product we’re looking at every weird, old drink we can think of. Because we want to spark your imagination. We want you to pick it up and try it in your favourites too. After all, necessity is the mother of all invention, and it’s absolutely necessary that we tell you the best way to enjoy your spirit tonight. It’ll make your night better, and that makes our day.