Making the base alcohol from scratch sets Peter Hall apart from many other artisan gin makers. He tells Cityscape how a talk among friends turned into a plan to set up a small still and give it a go.

Tell us what is special and different about your distillery? We make our own alcohol from scratch. Many competitors buy in whey alcohol or neutral spirit and further distil. I don’t think you can truly say your customer is getting a ‘grain to glass experience’ if you are not making your own alcohol using grain.

Why gin? How did you get interested in making it? It grew out of a discussion with friends during a long weekend in 2016 spent at Bannockburn in Central Otago. My partner Marie is Irish-born and for a reason known only to her she turned the discussion from Felton Road pinot noir (the drink of choice that weekend) to Irish Potein (moonshine), which is essentially a potato vodka, and from that we moved to a discussion of how easy or hard would it be to make a vodka or a gin. By the time the drive back home to Lyttelton was completed, I had formulated a plan to buy a small still and find out.

Where did you get your botanical recipe from? Lots of reading and over a year of experimenting with different botanicals and combinations. I was keen to bring Banks Peninsula manuka and Central Otago wild thyme into the mix. There is juniper (essential), cardamom is to the fore, and the other usual suspects such as coriander, citrus peel, angelica and others, and a little grain of paradise that binds them all together. The exact list and proportions are the distiller’s secret.

Why do you think gin has come back into favour so much? I think it’s driven by the resurgence of the cocktail, and gin is an ingredient in many of the popular ones.

Has it been difficult to win people over to the idea of small-batch artisan gin? No. Not even if you add to the idea words like ‘premium price’. People understand, I think, that artisan and small batch is labour intensive and therefore will be expensive. What they won’t put up with is average – they are happy to pay a premium price for a quality, well-presented product with a delicious taste. No amount of advertising will overcome poor taste, aroma and presentation. People also like the opportunity of being able to meet and talk to the distiller, which is often possible in New Zealand.

What do you see as the interesting trends in gin? For the past few years the trend seems to have been for distilleries to think that the only way to be successful is to come up with a new variety of gin, so we have cucumber, strawberry, hemp, butterscotch, Easter bun gins and heaps of others, to a point where it is questionable whether they are actually producing a gin. We nod our head to that trend somewhat with our blackberry trial but while nearly everyone else seems to be chasing the next ‘in’ flavour, ingredient or botanical, we happily focus on making a quality traditional, delicious gin. It almost seems this market is being ignored. I’m happy with that!

Are you working with any new botanicals that you want to talk about? Nothing truly new but I want to find the time to try just juniper, wild rosehip and wild thyme in combination. I also have an idea that involves the Bluff oyster but don’t want to say too much.

Do you make spirits other than gin? A vodka is likely. Also we have a limoncello, which should come onto the market in about two months. It will be sweetened with local honey. Also last year we did a small trial where we introduced our gin to New Zealand-grown blackberries and locked them away in a dark room for several months. The result was stunning.

Do you have any gin and food matches? Or ideal snacks to go with a gin drink? Personally I think gin should be enjoyed without food, just as I wouldn’t combine a single malt whisky and food. If I was really pressed to come up with a food match – maybe a green olive and a gin martini (no surprises there). Alternatively, for the early starters, see the Breakfast Martini recipe.

What’s your favourite way to drink gin? In a Negroni is always good – my preferred winter option. Increasingly I am enjoying gin straight, poured over a large block of ice (so it doesn’t melt too quickly), with just a thick wedge of fresh lemon that you press (with finger or teaspoon) now and again against the side of the glass.

Cocktail recipe: Breakfast Martini

This was created by bartender Salvatore Calabrese when his wife insisted he have some toast and marmalade instead of just a martini for breakfast.

Ingredients

• 15ml Cointreau
• 15ml lemon juice
• 50ml Peninsula Gin
• 1 tsp marmalade (orange but no rind)

Method

In a shaking glass, add the marmalade, gin, lemon juice and Cointreau. Next, break down the marmalade by mixing with a bar spoon before adding ice and shaking well. Shake for slightly longer than normal to mix the marmalade properly before straining into a chilled martini glass. Extra marmalade, a single slice of thin toast and one semi hardboiled egg can be eaten alongside.

lytteltondistillery.co.nz

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