Next in our ‘Meet the Distiller‘ series, aimed at promoting the hard-working individuals behind Australian craft distilleries and their brands, we meet Tim Boast, Sean Baxter & George Georgiades of Never Never Distilling Co. in South Australia.
L-R: Tim Boast, Sean Baxter & George Georgiadis – Photo: Supplied
Tell us a little about yourself, your position, where you work and where it’s located.
Sean Baxter: Brand Director. We work just out of the Adelaide CBD in Thebarton, but we’ve just commenced works on our new brand home in McLaren Vale, a wine region that has both hills and coastline about 30 minutes south of Adelaide. The landscape is represented on our label, even though we didn’t have a site at the time! Needless to say we’ll be thrilled to be working in such an incredible part of the world.
Tim Boast: Head Distiller. If I’d listened to my parents I could have easily gone in a different direction all together. I was raised in an ultra-conservative Christian household, there was never alcohol in the house, my parents never drank and my mother claims to be allergic to gin. When I was 16, my dad casually mentioned he and mum would be very proud if I would become a catholic priest. This was a decisive moment in my life. The answer was an emphatic and spontaneous ‘No’ (I may have used more colourful language).
At 25, I moved to the UK and spent lots of time with my grandmother and my cousins. My grandmother’s maiden name was Gilbey and the family was connected to Gilbeys Gin. The folklore of the family connection to gin, the emergence of craft distilling in the USA and UK peaked my interest. Living in the UK gave me incredible exposure to some of the best cocktail bars in the world and I began to appreciate flavour, texture and palate more deeply. My gran was a renaissance woman and an advocate for pursuing your passions. She definitely influenced my outlook on life and I was encouraged to pursue distilling.
Sadly my grandmother passed away and this prompted me to move back to Adelaide and buy my first still which I named Nancy after my grandmother and still use today. Adelaide afforded me the opportunity to buy a house where I built a pretty sophisticated backyard brewery and distillery and I began experimenting and learning.
I think I have found my natural habitat in the distillery and making gin. I was never comfortable in an office.
How did you get started in distilling?
George Georgiadis: Managing Director. For me, it was about doing something in the amazing South Australian food and beverage industry that I was so lucky to grow up in. It had to involve complex flavour so it was either gin or cheese! The education started while I was still working in finance, sitting across the bar drinking a lot of cocktails. Then I did a brewing course at TAFE, a General Certificate in Distilling through the IBD and a Federation Uni short course at Starward. A great start was travelling to the US a few times and spending time in a bunch of distilleries over there, plus doing some production with other Australian distilleries when I got back. Then Tim and I got together to kick of our R&D process.
Tell us a little bit about your distillery, when it was founded, the vision behind it and the spirits you currently produce.
Sean: We began Never Never Distilling Co with the mindset of creating some of the boldest, most juniper-forward gins on the market. We wanted to start a juniper revolution, bringing attention to gin’s most important botanical by making it our signature.
In December of 2016, Tim, George and myself pooled our collective monies and bought a still called Wendy. She is a 300 litre Pot/Column hybrid with a vapour basket made by Spark Brew in Melbourne. We set up in the back of a brewery in Royal Park and got to work. It was only 16 square metres, basically the floor space of two pallets and without any running water. It was a nightmare in terms of efficiency, but we made every square inch work for us. After eight months of R&D, we released our Triple Juniper Gin and it was this that formed the foundation of every gin that we make.
The Southern Strength Gin followed after first releasing 7 different batches within the Dark Series until we landed on the best combination of savoury flavours. This year it won World’s Best Classic Gin at the World Gin Awards. I’m glad we took our time.
The Juniper Freak Gin was launched at Junipalooza 2017 and it was an immediate hit. It celebrates the juniper harvest and is Australia’s first vintage gin release. It’s like an Islay malt of the gin world, heavy and vivacious. We followed up in 2018 with our Juniper Stomp Gin, a world first in gin production where we invite guests to stomp juniper with their feet before it’s later distilled. It is our only current Dark Series Gin (where both the Southern Strength and Juniper Freak first started).
We also make a few collaborative products such as our PS40 Aquavit, a bold Australian expression of Nordic style, and also our Fancy Fruit Cup, made using Triple Juniper Gin, earl grey tea and also Marionette Orange liqueur.
Our gins and spirits embrace a style that is driven by bold flavour and intense texture. We built a gin brand around the one ingredient producers are using less and less of these days – juniper, not because it’s different, because it’s familiar.
What has been the most rewarding part so far?
Sean: Winning the World’s Best Classic Gin at the World Gin Awards this year was the pinnacle. It’s the first time this award has been won by an Australian distillery and we remember the amazing impact it had for Sullivans Cove and Tasmanian whisky. The support we’ve had from the industry has been really overwhelming and that drives us forward every day. However the biggest thrill I get is when I see someone order a Never Never in the bars that I used to frequent in my bartender days. The same shelves that used to harbour a few of my favourite gin brands now contain my own. My hair stands up on end, every single time, without fail.
In the same vein, working alongside some close friends in the industry both through spirit collaborations and venue activations has been an amazing experience. These moments are the reason why I got into this business in the first place.
Aside from taxation, what has been the most challenging part?
George: Cash flow is the most important thing when it comes to being able to grow. We were very lucky to start off in the back of a shed, with minimal overheads and a very small financial footprint. It allowed us to take bigger risks, invest more creatively and spend more money on growing the brand. However as we scale, it becomes more important than ever to keep chasing every invoice and saving every dollar. Sean used to sell gin out of the back of Tim’s Mitsubishi Magna that he borrowed for 12 months because he couldn’t afford anything else. We’ve made changes to core components of our business because we’ve discovered cost efficiencies that protect our bottom line. It’s simple, cash flow is like oxygen to a business, without it, you cease to be. So far we’re still breathing, but we’re certainly not taking it for granted.
What advice would you give someone considering distilling as a career?
Tim: A career in distilling should be treated as a marathon, not a sprint. Especially if you intend on making aged spirits. If your intention is to start your own brand and create your own products, it will take longer than you think, challenge your resolve frequently but you’ll get to where you want with a great team surrounding you. I am very fortunate to have two fantastic partners in business.
George: Practice practice practice. R&D is the best way to go. Get going with a small set up and then just learn from experience. Then talk to a lot of other distillers. You learn so much more that way than reading books.
Sean: Drink in the best bars and know your product back to front. Listen to what bartenders want and give purpose to the products you make.
What’s your opinion on the current state of Australian distilling, and is it sustainable long term?
Sean: The current atmosphere in the Australian spirit industry necessitates moving quickly. There has been a huge amount of growth in the sector, even in the last 12 months. We were the new kids on the block in Adelaide for a grand total of 4 weeks before another new gin brand launched around the corner. We think there’s loads of growth left for the industry, but it will definitely change in the future. It’s already saturating and you have to have a very good reason to be put on a bar or shelf.
Where do you see the future of Australian distilling heading?
George: We see the industry localising a lot. Local distilleries will continue to pop up everywhere just like breweries have, which is great. There will probably be at least three distilleries in every major CBD and every regional tourist area by the end of next year. There will be increasing diversity of focus and loads of creativity. There is a huge amount of whisky capacity about to come online as many whisky producers commenced production in the last five years but are yet to show their brands to the market. This will be interesting to watch.
Tim: Thankfully the industry in Australia is exceptionally collegiate so I see competition leading to innovation and improvement so ideally lifting the reputation of Australian spirits on the world stage.
You’ve recently been awarded the trophy for Best Classic Gin at the World Gin Awards 2019 for Southern Strength Gin. What does this award mean for Never Never Distilling Co. going forward?
Sean: This award means a lot to us. We’ve always taken the approach of investing in our brand and team ahead of the business I guess, so to receive this award validates all the effort we’ve put in. It will allow us to grow our team faster and invest more into our new brand home at McLaren Vale.
Tim: Sean has literally chained me to our still. No joke. Send help.
Sean: Not even joking. I’m dictating this for him while he’s busy making more gin.
Are there any projects in development that we can look forward to?
Sean: There are way too many to talk about here! We’re always working on a collab or three. Expect to see some of these bottlings to drop over the next 12 months, especially with the imminent launch of our brand new home. Tim is working on some really interesting product development at the moment. Our major project is definitely our new distillery. It will an amazing precinct, with our full production distillery, cocktail bar, pizza restaurant and a wine cellar door operated by Chalk Hill (who we are developing the site with), all operating within the same location. It will be a huge undertaking but we are always ready for the next challenge.
Any closing comments?
Sean: We just wanted to say thank you to the amazing amount of support we receive from bartenders all across the country. It’s incredible to walk into venues and be offered a Never Never Martini before my bum hits the barstool, or stopped at gin festivals and complimented on the products we make. We love it, it’s a privilege to do what we do for the passionate juniper lovers of Australia.
Never Never Distilling Co is listed in the Australian Distillery Directory.
In partnership with Never Never Distilling Co.
