Kiwis develop a taste for NZ gin.
Gin has moved well past historically unflattering nicknames like Mother’s Ruin, and more drinkers are going local when ordering the increasingly fashionable tipple.
In line with demand for boutique wine and craft beer, discerning drinkers now want artisan gin, and that is reflected in this week’s annual New Zealand Spirit Awards where gins account for 143 of the 339 entries, up 91 on last year, and only a handful are imports.
Christchurch’s Gin Gin bar stocks about 120 varieties, many of them distilled here using local flavourings like kawakawa and horopito, with quintessentially Kiwi names like White Sheep and Black Robin.
Gin Gin co-owner Luke Dawkins says his predominantly female customers range in age from 18 to 80, and in the past two years he has noted a growing willingness to try New Zealand brands.
‘‘We have people coming here working their way through their personal list of 300-plus gins.’’
Fledgling on-line seller SuggestGin stocks only New Zealand craft gins (80 to date), and for $79 a month, subscribers get a tasting box that includes four 50 millilitre size bottles and mixers, along with a weekly virtual tasting session with one of 67 distillers.
SuggestGin director Sarah Williams says the aim is to convert drinkers to New Zealand gin which, while more expensive than imported brands, is right up there in terms of quality.
Gin imports topped $25 million last year, more than double the value of imports five years ago, while gin exports earned a rather more modest $1.6m, according to Stats NZ.
Spirits New Zealand represents a dozen major spirit manufacturers, importers and distributors, and chief executive Robert Brewer estimates 228,216 litres of gin were distilled here in the year to January, a 63 per cent increase in volume since 2017.
New Zealand has about 100 commercial distilleries and Curiosity Gin chief gin officer Antony Michalik describes it as a useful ‘‘cash crop’’ that provides revenue while distillers barrel-age brandy and whisky.
‘‘If you’ve got the resources you can distil it, bottle it and sell it in the same day.’’
Juniper berries from conifer trees give gin its distinctive taste, but Kiwi distillers also use native botanicals to create an authentically New Zealand product.
Curiosity’s ingredient list includes kawakawa, horopito, ma¯ nuka and tarata. Michalik says the latter is a lemonwood that adds citrusy notes.
Taranaki’s BeGin Distilling co-founder David James says the global pandemic affected supplies of juniper berries, pushing the price to $25,000 a tonne, up from $16,000 two years ago.
‘‘There was a moment there about a month ago where a number of distilleries were so short they had to stop making [gin], and they were calling around saying ‘help, has anyone got any spare’?’’
James’ Juno Gin has partnered with Massey University to develop a commercial juniper industry in New Zealand by propagating the conifers that produce juniper berries, which strictly speaking, are actually cones.
They contain the essential oils needed for gin-making and James says analysis suggests our higher UV levels create higher concentrations of these desirable phytochemicals.
The conifers are not easily propagated, but James is hoping small commercial quantities of berries could be harvested in five years’ time. ‘‘It’s a long game.’’
He says Australia has 350 gin distilleries also reliant on importing cones from the northern hemisphere where they are harvested in the wild, so there is export potential too.
Sue James, David’s sister and technical director at Juno Gin, chairs trade body Distilled Spirits Aotearoa, and she says about half of its 82 members make gin.
Many aim to export within two years of start-up because the local gin market is simply too small.
‘‘It’s like craft beer, you have our little fan base, people from your local town who support you like crazy, but you’re not going to get any bigger unless you look further afield ... most people will look at Australia, the UK or US.’’