Gin-gin!
Hayley Barnett toasts to a deliciously novel local experience.
Hayley Barnett toasts to a deliciously novel local experience.
photos Erin Cave
Who doesn’t enjoy a good gin? Floral, spicy, citrusy, nutty, sweet – there’s one to suit everyone these days, but making your own brings the appreciation to a whole new level.
Matahui Distillery in Aongatete offers gin lovers the experience of creating and bottling their own unique gin – from choosing your own botanicals, through to naming and labelling your creation. Before heading there to experience it for myself, I’d imagined making gin would be a time-consuming process and I’d have absolutely no idea what I was doing when it came to choosing which flavours go with what. I can barely cook. It turns out you can’t really go wrong. Not at Matahui anyway.
Gin enthusiast Shelley Broadbent leads our group of intrigued soon-to-be-mixologists and first educates us on the complexities – and simplicities – of the making process. Each station is set up with beakers and various measuring apparatuses, reminiscent of high school science class, only a lot more fun. Though the teenage trauma still lingers for me, Shelley assures us it’s a straightforward process – and it is.
Taste-testing the botanicals.
Pick your botanicals, mix your alcohol and water, then add everything to your distiller. You do get some guidance, of course. When it comes to choosing botanicals, it’s important to know that juniper berries usually make up around 80 percent of a gin profile, although these days it’s common for gin to include less juniper, to make way for other fanciful flavours. Then it’s wise to use coriander seeds, orris root and angelica root to get a well-rounded flavour profile. Some distillers use crushed and roasted coriander seeds, but we’re using them whole. After that, it’s a free-for-all to do as you please. Citrus is highly recommended but not essential. We play it safe and go for fresh lime peel. Next, we add bold, daring horopito, macadamia and liquorice, feeling as though we’re living on the edge.
During the distillation process, we walk around placing our fingers under other distillers (invited of course), to taste and see if we can recognise where the flavours come in. It’s fascinating to see how each taste combines with the others before it.
Angela takes us on a tour through the gardens.
One of the best things about Matahui is that they grow their own herbs, fruit and vegetables, offering up the very real experience of farm to plate. While our gin is distilling, we take a walk around the garden as Angela Howard, co-owner with husband Paul Horak, gives us a rundown on various flavours and where they come from.
Back in the lab, Shelley gets us started on the bottling process. Although she doesn’t own the place, it’s her we have to thank for our foray into gin distilling. She’s the one who twisted Angela and Paul’s arms to set up the distillery. Angela made a hobby out of turning alcohol into liqueur and Paul enjoyed experimenting with home distilling. They often talked about growing their own botanicals and turning their hobbies into a commercial business, but it took Shelley’s infectious positivity and persuasion to convince them to turn their dreams into reality.
Paul, Angela and Shelley.
A year ago, they invested in a state-of-the-art still to help them produce the highest-quality gin possible, and came up with their own brand, Adventurers Gin. Today, all three welcome groups onto their farm to try their hand at distilling and sample the various liquors on offer. Sharing their passion with locals and visitors is a dream come true for the trio, but they say they’ve only just started their adventure.
Creative character: writer and poet Stuart Greenhill and the Fenton Arts Collective
Writer and poet Stuart Greenhill of the Fenton Arts Collective in Stratford talks to UNO.
PHOTOS Andy Jackson and Jane Dove Juneau
UNO: What a beautiful building you are housed in. How did you find it and what was the journey to restoration?
Stuart Greenhill: My partner Jo Stallard was looking for a heritage building to save. In 2016, she offered a ridiculously low amount for the Egmont Chambers building in Stratford, which was earthquake-rated 17%. It was accepted. The building was not listed on Stratford’s District Plan, so no funding was available. Other than that, it was a fantastic journey. We had enough experience from previous projects to ensure the outcome was what we wanted. The renovation won an Architecture Award in 2019 for Renovations and Additions. The building fascinates people, and many come just to see it.
What is the Fenton Arts Collective?
It is a collective of our passions and interests: Art, history, gin and espresso. We are 310 metres up a mountain, so our aspirations are just as high for each of them. The Collective offers people something unique, something intimate, something historical and modern; it offers a genuine experience.
Your partner Jo Stallard is the curator and artist-in-residence. What is Jo's artistic background, and what does she paint?
Jo comes from an art history background and is a portrait artist. She works in the traditional painting technique of “grisaille” or “dead painting” to traverse the landscapes of the human face and body. Looking, seeing and perceiving are the semantics of what a face has to give, share or provoke, and those are the landscapes she loves. So people come to the Collective, grab a coffee or gin from downstairs, and visit Jo’s working studio upstairs -- and maybe even chat about a commission.
Refreshment plays a strong role in your building; we hear gin and espresso coffee flow freely! Tell us more.
To survive in the provinces, businesses require diversity. Coffee, retail, and an art gallery were great, but we needed something more. Making gin is like writing. Botanicals are characters; each brings a different personality, so it was simply a matter of creating fantastic stories. People hear those when they book a gin tasting with me. Our espresso bar uses Proof & Stock coffee, made by our daughter, Adrianna, and offers high-quality healthy options including gluten-free and keto. And Tauranga celebrity Chef Ken Greenhill creates a monthly five-course degustation for us. They are so popular we have a waiting list.
What's your connection to Tauranga?
My brother’s been here since 1997, and Jo and I set up Deckchair on Marine Parade with him in 2007. We sold in 2010, travelled for a bit, and were approached in 2013 to establish Quantum Vis Eatery on Cameron Road. We still have a connection to the Bay, having formed many friendships over those years, and are thrilled that our gin is now carried by Mount Wine Barrel, Maunganui Rd and Fife Lane Restaurant.
And on top of all that, you're a published author! What have you written?
Dante Fog was published by Austin Macauley Publishers in London last year. It is autobiographical fiction (yes, that is a genre). The mother in the novel tells her son, “There are no better observers of life than artists.” I totally agree. Artistic license takes life and makes it art. That’s why I write poetry and prose and make gin and Jo paints. There is a beautiful complexity in discovering and understanding the layers in the mirror looking back at us. Our art attempts to express it so does the character Dante Fog.
What does the future hold for the Fenton Arts Collective?
There’s pressure to grow, but the distillery will remain boutique and so will the Arts Collective. Our gallery is booked for 2021, I am contracted to Austin Macauley Publishers for my next book, and Jo has two exhibitions this year. The future will be busy.