The Gin Makers

Dabblers Gin‍

Dabblers Gin got a kickstart during lockdown when Adrian Hoggard had a still, a few ingredients
in his garden and time to kill.

“I bought a still at the start of 2020 with the plan to make whisky but it takes quite a long time to age and after the first batch I had a long wait!” he laughs. “So I decided to give gin a go, then lockdown happened and I had a bit of time on my hands.” Adrian’s interest lay in infusing fruits into the gin after the distilling process, so he went into flavour experimentation mode while he was stuck at home.

“For me, it was what was growing around my house and what I had access to during lockdown, which wasn’t a huge amount. I was putting everything I could into gin and seeing how it went.
Celery doesn’t work very well, believe it or not!”

At that stage, Dabblers co-founder Samuel Richardson was taste testing from a distance. “I was based in Auckland at the time, so Adrian would send me up gin and we’d try all these different recipes. It was a hobby really — that’s how it started.”

Adrian and Samuel met at Massey University when they were both studying food technology, later becoming firm friends while working together at their first job at Watties. They’ve been working in
the food and beverage industry for more than 10 years.

When their side hustle of home distilling gathered momentum, they started lining up friends and family for blind tastings of gins and gin bases, taking feedback on board, reworking, refining, then finally progressing to larger batches.

They launched Dabbler’s Gin at the end of 2022 with four flavours: Lime & Mint, Summer Berry, Lemonade, and Orange, Raspberry & Rhubarb.

A couple of months after, the pair took a stand at the Auckland Gin Festival. “It was an Australian
and New Zealand event, and it was massive — about 4000 people came through. We were six weeks in, we were real amateurs, not really knowing what we were doing,” laughs Samuel. “But we had an absolutely brilliant time, the feedback was overwhelming, people had such good things to say about the brand and the gin… It was a really positive influence on us — getting that recognition we had created something really special and widely enjoyed.”

Samuel says the event also confirmed something that was also apparent in their earlier tastings:
“We found out there was a real appetite for pushing the boundaries in flavours.”

Luckily the pair have no shortage of innovative flavour ideas. “We have about 30 combinations
sitting around right now — we just need to decide which are the right ones to release,” says Samuel.
“I think the [limited-edition] Hot Cross Bun gin will make a return as that was really popular.” Positive feedback for a feijoa gin (that’s currently work in progress) also makes it a likely contender for the
still, come feijoa season.

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The Dabblers process

“We use a process called natural infusion, so we’re able to extract all the flavours and colours
from the fruit without the use of any added flavours or colours or sugars or anything unnatural,” explains Samuel.

Unsurprisingly, given their backgrounds, the two have a very methodical and scientific approach
to their infusions.

“Putting fruits into the gin is not in itself particularly unique, but the process we use is: what parts
of the fruit, at what alcohol level, for what time, and how we put the different flavours together,”
says Samuel. “We feel like we’ve done a really good job of getting the most flavours, and the right flavours, out of the fruits.”

We found out there was a real appetite for pushing the boundaries in flavours. We have about 30 combinations sitting around right now, we just need to decide which are the right ones to release

“Because we use fresh fruit, the flavours are very authentic,” says Adrian, who explains they are slowly connecting with seasonal fruit suppliers, and might even be able to alleviate some food waste at the same time, given the fruit’s appearance doesn’t matter, just what’s inside. “At the moment, the limes come from my wife’s workmate — they would’ve been wasting on the ground,” he says. During winter they’ve been tapping into lemon and orange growers, summer will be about sourcing fresh berries, and come autumn, they’ll be hunting down feijoas to make that new number.

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Drinking Dabblers

With a plethora of flavoured tonics on the market, combined with the fact Dabblers gins have
their own distinct flavours, it’s helpful that each gin has a list of recommended tonics on their
site. “It really changes the experience, so we’ve tasted every gin with every tonic,” says Samuel.
“We also have some cocktail recipes online, which are really easy to make at home.”

And if you are looking to dabble but can’t commit to one flavour, there are gift packs with 200ml bottles of gins — you even have the choice to mix and match your flavours. And you can always
order a Dabblers at The Barrel Room in Tauranga.‍

Light’n Sunny cocktail

“Light’n Sunny is a play on a Dark’n Stormy, which is typically made with dark rum. This is the more refreshing version. The rhubarb and ginger work well together and are complemented by the citrusy orange and sweet raspberry. To make, add 60ml Dabblers Orange, Raspberry & Rhubarb Gin and 10ml fresh lime juice to a glass with lots of ice. Top with ginger beer, and garnish with a slice of lime or rosemary sprig.”‍

dabblersgin.co.nz‍

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Clarity Distilling Co

Ironically, gin-making friends George White and Stephanie Downer met at possibly one of the
least alcohol-friendly environments possible — a childcare centre. “I was working in a centre on
after-school care and holiday programmes, and George bought the business,” says Stephanie.
The two ended up working together for seven years in that industry, before eventually launching Clarity Distilling Co.

“George was distilling at home and I started taking a bit of an interest — suggesting ideas and flavours,” says Stephanie about their early forays into gin making. “We’re both social, both enjoy
gin and good food, and Steph is very creative, so making gin was a path where we could express ourselves through recipes and different flavours,” says George.

They’ve poured their creative juices into their two gins, Clarity 2023 and Clarity Dry, but when it came to the branding, Stephanie was also fully in her element. “I loved the idea of helping to create the labels, the branding, all of that,” she explains. “I designed the logo, I hand drew that little wave you see on the bottle, I painted it with watercolours… I had to learn to use Adobe illustrator and I watched a lot of YouTube videos to work out how to do things!”

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Drinking Clarity

“Our gins are both London Dry style, so there’s nothing added post fermentation or distillation,” explains George. “The flavours are just the botanicals.

“Our Clarity 2023 is a classic London Dry — it’s juniper forward, but there’s great balance, he says. Their thinking behind the creation of their other gin, Clarity Dry, was twofold. “Steph and I enjoy our gin neat or with a little bit of tonic, but we know people like to add other things, so we created a gin that would be complemented by added citrus or sweetness of a tonic,” George says.

“For the Dry gin, we toned down all the sweet botanicals and citrus elements” says Stephanie. “Then we upped those spicier elements — cassia, cinnamon, nutmeg, and there’s quite an earthy taste that comes through.” Those warming notes are their other reason to make this gin — to debunk the myth that gin’s just a summer drink. These flavours work perfectly on a cold day, especially when served neat. If the day’s warmer? The pair recommend adding some tonic and a garnish.

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The Clarity process

When it comes to the distillation process, George compares their approach to making a stew:
“You don’t start your stew with everything in the same pot, you add things at different times, and
we think it’s the same with gin — we don’t start with everything at once.”

“We felt that every botanical needed to be treated individually to get the best out of it,” says Stephanie, referring to the roots, seeds, berries, barks, herbs and spices they use. “Each botanical reacts differently during distilling — if your alcohol content is high, you’ll pull different tannins out
of the root, if you distil too long, your citrus can get a bit ‘cooked,” says George. “It’s obviously very time-intensive but we distil them individually to get the best flavour, then we blend all of the extracts to make the final product. It also ensures we can control our flavour profile. There’s not a lot of places in the world that do this.”

That extra effort has been appreciated. Barely five months after their launch early this year, ‘the pool room’ already has some awards on display. “We entered the first batch of our Clarity Dry to the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the largest spirit competition in the world, and we got a Double Gold,” says George. “And the third batch of Clarity 2023 won a Gold medal at the 2023 New Zealand Spirits Awards, and trophy for best in class for London Dry Gin.”

“When we opened the email from San Fran, that was phenomenal,” says Stephanie. “And then to
win the trophy at the New Zealand awards… To be honest, we can actually still not believe it.”‍

claritydc.co.nz

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Words by Sarah Nicholson

Photography by ilk