Croc brew is a handy cleanser
A CAIRNS distiller passionate about his craft is preparing to launch a range of new products as well as opening in a new location.
Troy Read of FNQ Spirits quickly outgrew his Bungalow distillery after having produced large numbers of medical-grade hand sanitiser to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now having been left with a stockpile of supplies, while still producing his popular “Croc Piss” rum-inspired spirit, Mr Read has opened a new distillery at 436-438 Sheridan Street, Cairns North.
“Particularly when the sanitiser went nuts earlier in the piece with COVID, I ordered heaps of bottles and stuff in because the supply chain was really ordinary,” he said.
“I didn’t want to be stuck without containers and then all of a sudden I had a distillery I couldn't walk in because it was so full.
“Now I’ve got everything ready to go and I don’t think space will be a problem for a long while.”
Mr Read is also working on a range of new products after having teamed up with the Far North’s own Skybury.
“We’ve got a collaboration going with Skybury, so we’re making a coffee liquor that’s to die for,” he said. “We’re also doing some papaya spirit, papaya schnapps, some vodka with them and maybe a mocha, so it’s all happening.”
Mr Read is not the only local distiller producing hand sanitiser. Coral Sea Brewing Co has been pumping out medical-grade hand sanitiser, in collaboration with the Mt Uncle Distillery on the Tablelands, and gin distillers Wolf Lane have also turned their hands to churning out hundreds of litres of the product.