In late 2016, Eddie Brook ran a successful crowd-funding campaign through Pozible to launch Brookie’s gin into the market. Now, we’re starting to see Brookie’s on the top shelves of some of the region’s coolest bars – but you should know that this ain’t no ordinary gin. Cape Byron Distillery sits on the same massive piece of land that is also occupied by Brookfarm’s macadamia plantation. So, on one side of the distillery are scores of macadamia trees, on the other is an abundant sub-tropical rainforest – and both pieces of land play a huge part in the DNA of Brookie’s. The gin is botanically infused with 26 native ingredients like aniseed, cinnamon, myrtle, Davidson plumbs, finger limes, native raspberries, ginger and riberries (the fruit off lilly pilly trees). Brookie’s is also distilled with Brookfarm’s own macadamias, which allow the gin to develop an oily and buttery mouth-feel. Of the 26 different botanicals used, 18 are native to the distillery’s own rainforest – everything else comes from the local area.
Brookie’s also openly states that the gin is ‘seasonal’. How so? Well, there are generally fairly small growing windows when it comes to native produce, so as the year progresses, you can expect subtle changes. Whilst the bones of the gin stays the same, an exciting new air of seasonality will sweep through the batches as the months progress. As well as creating a truly local flavour, Cape Byron Distillery also promotes sustainability – it’s a genuine passion for environmental purpose stems from Brookfarm’s original land, which has seen more than 35,000 trees planted over the last 30 years as part of a massive rejuvenation fuelled by the Brook family. If all of this has you intrigued (and thirsty), then you’ll be chuffed to know that Cape Byron Distillery will officially open to the public at the end of May, for tours, events, and plenty of gin-related fun – jump online to book. We’ve also got word of a new gin being dropped in coming weeks … the details are being kept in the copper vat for now, but we’ll keep you posted.