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Our Story
Big Tree Distillery is the result of a gin-loving husband and wife team who love good gin so much they decided to make their own. Introducing Catherine and Gary, who are devoted to bringing you a truly home-grown and delicious award winning gin.
Big Tree Gin is distilled in the Macedon Ranges region of Victoria, on Jack’s Springs Farm producing a range of farm crafted small batch Australian gins.
The Gin
Our gins are created with the finest ingredients, using botanicals grown on our farm, foraged from our local neighbours or, where something more obscure is required, sourced by our gin-loving botanist. Combined with fresh rain water collected from the roof of the distillery in our copper still to produce something that is so special to us and we hope to you also.
The Distillery
Meet Beryl, the Copper Still
Beryl is an all Australian one of a kind still, designed by Knapp Lewer in Hobart Tasmania. The shape of the still is uniquely designed to achieve the right amount of internal reflux which helps achieve the gins flavour. Beryl has a big 300 litre belly allowing us to steep the botanicals overnight along with the farms rain water and the neutral grain spirit.
Beryl's copper construction not only looks beautiful set in our distillery but also plays an essential role in the making of our gin. While stills can come in stainless steel, aluminium, and a range of other materials, copper reacts with the molecules in the distillation process and helps to produce a naturally clean and smooth spirit. Stripping out volatile compounds and removing any unwanted flavours and aromas from the final product all while being a wonderful heat conductor making for an efficient distillation process. Safe to say, we love copper!
The Bottles
Our beautiful bottles are designed to be kept long after the gin is gone, with artwork painted by local artist Sarah Gabriel and Melbourne botanical artist David Reynolds with limited editions of each piece in the series.
The Botanicals
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Coriander Seed
Coriandrum Sativum, now grown widely across the world, originated in the Mediterranean. Encased in a papery husk, the seeds of the coriander plant are used to impart a refreshing but slightly spicy citrus flavour
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Cardamom Seed
Commonly known as green or true cardamom, is a herbaceous, perennial plant in the ginger family, native to southern India. Cardamom has a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic, resinous fragrance.
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Star Anise
Star anise grows as dark brown pods with eight segments, each containing a pea-sized seed. This spice hails from an evergreen tree plant that is native to southern China and northeast Vietnam.
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Cassia Bark
Is an evergreen tree from southern China, but now cultivated in many parts of Asia. One of several species of Cinnamomum used for their aromatic bark.
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Sloe Berries
Prunus Spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe. Picked just after the first frost, Sloe berries are slow growing and hard work. We make up for what we can't grow on the farm by embarking on our annual pilgrimage to Tasmania where we pick Sloes from colonial trees planted many years ago.
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Rhubarb
From the species Rheum Rhabarbarum, Rhubarb consists of a fleshy edible stalk with large triangular leaves. Whilst the exact origin of rhubarb is unknown, it grows readily at the farm and surrounding areas of the Macedon Ranges making for the perfect centrepiece of our rhubarb gin.
