Overview
After beginning the year with a devastating bushfire season, then following it up with a global pandemic that rid the area of tourism, the Blue Mountains, it's fair to say, has has a tough 12 months. In response, Mount Tomah's Blue Mountains Botanic Garden has turned to an unlikely partner on its road towards bushfire recovery: gin. In collaboration with Sydney-based gin brand Grown Spirits, the Botanic Garden has released the Blue Mountains Grown Gin in a limited run of just 1000 bottles.
All profits from the gin go to supporting the garden's horticultural and scientific staff in their efforts to restore hundreds of specimens and areas of the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden destroyed in the bushfires earlier this year.
The Blue Mountains Grown Gin was created by Grown Spirits and Master Distiller Philip Moore at Distillery Botanica in Erina. It combines local eucalypt plant the silver-leaved mountain gum with juniper, valencia orange and liquorice root for a textural gin with a hint of spice.
"In creating a gin homage to the Blue Mountains and the Garden, there was one botanical I was immediately drawn to, eucalyptus pulverulenta, or "Baby Blue" as some people call it," Moore said in a statement. "It brings fresh, cooling qualities to the gin much like the mountains themselves."
The team recommends serving it in a G&T or a martini with a lime zest. You can also try it at Dead Ringer in Surry Hills, shaken into a cocktail called Evergreen.
If you're looking for ethical holiday gifts this time of year, the Blue Mountains Grown Gin fits snuggly into a Christmas stocking.
Not a gin enthusiast, but still keen to support the area? You can take a trip to the Blue Mountains — and the Garden — and spend liberally on local businesses. To start planning your adventure, check out our guide to the upper Blue Mountains and these enchanting local stays.
The Blue Mountains Grown Gin is now available now for $129 at the Garden Grown Gin website or at select bottle shops across Australia.