There’s a lot to be excited about with Cape Byron Distillery for 2021, as Co-Founder Eddie Brook and the team continue to look at ways to innovate and create new and interesting products cemented in local and ethical production.
As with everyone the distillery faced challenges in 2020 through lockdowns and pivots and many pandemic-related issues, but Eddie told Bars and Clubs that he was particularly proud of how the team adapted quickly to the challenges thrown at it.
“One of the things I’m really proud of is being a business that always moves quickly when an opportunity arises.
“You look at hand sanitiser and I think we were probably one of the first to go on, and when we do something, we do it with absolute intent. That was the core focus of our business for the eight to 10 week period.”
It was the same with the development of Pacific Moonshine, a product Eddie developed alongside Brad Rogers, one of the Founders at Stone & Wood Brewery, after the brewer bought back kegs of Pacific Ale after lockdown.
“When the idea for Pacific Moonshine came along; from an idea to when we backed ourselves to put it into a product there is absolute intent that goes with that. If we’re going to do this, unless we absolutely love the product and are proud of what we’ve done, we are not going to do it.
“We went from product conception and idea through to the development and trial distillation phase, and I was sitting here with Brad running our small test still and I’m not going to sugar-coat it the foreshots were terrible.
“There were tar-like flavours or compounds and then it just clicked over and these delightful tinned lychees came through in the middle cut and we knew we were on to something special. But then there were a lot of factors like how do we get thousands of litres of beer here, and keep it fresh, but once we committed we worked through all of those factors and we really revel in those challenges.”
Developing and creating new products is an important part of Cape Byron Distillery, but additionally it’s clear speaking to Eddie that representing the region and in particular native Australian products is another huge factor for the team.
“Even from when we started to when we create new products, we have always been very much about pushing the boundaries, but also creating products that represent our region,” told Bars and Clubs.
“We did that first with our Dry Gin. We are pretty lucky here in Northern Rivers with the backdrop of native indigenous ingredients that we have on our own farm and rain forests. But also Northern Rivers is really an epicentre of native botanicals, and our Dry Gin is a classic example of that. But then you look at our Sloe Gin and we were probably the first to infuse Davidson Plum into a spirit, but also play on the ageing characteristics.
“We’ve grown that to be Australia’s leading Davidson Plum purchaser, over 20 tonnes a year now, which we are pretty stoked about because that’s all coming from local growers.”
He adds: “It’s exciting to see a bigger outcome of that when you look at native Australian produce and what is our food and beverage culture, native Australian ingredients has to be at the heart of that, and if we can have influence on the industry with more people using native ingredients and infusing them into spirits and gins, that’s a great win.”
You can see that influence in other products like the Macadamia and Wattle Seed Liqueur, the Pacific Moonshine and the distillery’s other new product Shirl the Pearl, a kumquat infused gin. It’s also seen with the highly anticipated Single Malt Whisky, which is currently developing in barrel.
“We’ve been continuing to distil single malt and no-one has aged it in this climatic condition before. Our warehouses are in the middle of the rainforest and we are getting this unique environment. I was just down in one of warehouses and there’s water coming in and licking some of the barrels in different spots so that’s going to be a continued chapter for the business.
“But that idea of innovation for us is really about how our environment and our region has an impact on the products we produce.”
The equally good and bad news from Eddie about the single malt whisky is that they will not be rushing it into bottle.
But he did tease us a little, saying: “Our first whisky comes of age in February next year, but we are going to be starting to do some small releases from barrels that we are really happy with the progress of in the latter part of the year.”
There are also two new products coming in the first quarter of next year, with Eddie emphasising the distillery will remain committed to being able to act quickly when new and innovative ideas come to their door, he promised: “You’ll definitely be seeing a few new creative and exciting things coming from the distillery nest year.”
The year ahead already looks like it continue to see the development of local travel and Australians increasingly engaging with local products and local produce and this can be expected to influence bar trends.
Eddie agrees, telling Bars and Clubs: “This idea of travel in your own backyard and searching for what’s available is huge. People would be amazed if they knew and did a bit more looking into what’s available. When you travel to those regions, especially like ours, get out of those main areas; Byron Bay is a great example.
“The Hinterland of Byron Bay is in my mind where the true gem and beauty of this region lies. If you’re travelling go out, find out about and support the local distilleries and I think a lot of people will fall further in love with what this industry has to offer.”
