The Station at Newcastle hosted some of the country's best and most innovative spirits distillers at the weekend for a showcase of what the Hunter and Australia more broadly have to offer a market increasingly turning to high quality, niche products for the home and professional bar.
Gin in particular has been undergoing a renaissance over the past few years, as more Australian distillers move into the market bringing a unique catalogue of botanicals and spicers from the regions to the world.
"Five or six years ago, people would have scoffed at the idea of paying $85 for a bottle of gin," Kate Gleeson, the operations manager for Farmer's Wife - a gin distillery based at Allworth near Stroud - said at the weekend. "But the thing that makes craft Australian gin unique is our Australian botanicals.
"We use a native honey from little sugarbag honey bees that produce a kilo of honey per hive per year. It's a really unique botanical that adds flavour to the gin ... and the reason that Australian craft gins in particular are getting recognised worldwide is because of our native Australian ingredients which are just so different to anywhere else."
Distillers mostly agreed Saturday that the past few years had seen a gradual shift in the Australian drinking market from widely available and mostly imported products to more homegrown and small batch labels from local producers.
"When we started five years ago, there were 52 gin distillers," Ms Gleeson said, "Now there's around 670 in Australia ... We've noticed people are drinking less but drinking better quality."
Mick Findlay, a representative of Mornington Peninsula rum makers JimmyRum said the past few years, hampered by COVID lockdowns, had produced a boom in online sales for high quality spirits as customers stuck at home were learning to mix the drinks they would otherwise order out in their favourite bars.
"It opened Australian eyes to the fact that it is not just about that one big brand," he said, "We're discovering that in Australia we actually create really good, quality products because we have such a long history with it."
Lorin Ascoli had travelled in from Greta to meet up with friends at the event. Laruen is a rum drinker, but her friend Evie Hodgson had come for the craft gins.
"We haven't got too far along, but Eldorado make an espresso cream rum which is really fine," Lorin said, "I'm not a big gin fan, but that have a gin that was really nice as well.
"There is a lot more people who seem to be working in smaller distilleries with their own unique lens, considering it used to be just XXXX and standard beers and things."
"There's people who care about it and want to experience nice alcohol rather than just drinking," Evie added.
Prudence Farquhar, a local bar owner and one the organisers of the event, said it was the first run at staging Port to Paradise after COVID lockdowns eased.
"It's really exciting for us to come together," she said, "There really aren't that many events in Newcastle like this and we really want to grow this and showcase local and international spirits and bring it to Newcastle."
