Accompanying Notes: Gin Advent Calendar 'Coogee Pavilion'

Hello, Gin.

Originating in Holland sometime in the 16th century, an old drink called Genever found its way to England where it was quickly lapped up and became one of the biggest spirit success stories in history. Then known as gin, it changed the way people drank. In fact it became so popular that it made alcoholics out of otherwise restrained folks. Such was its popularity that the English government tried several times to ban the spirit altogether. The famous drawing of ‘Gin Lane’ by William Hogarth in 1751 depicts a scene of poverty in stark contrast to its twin work titled ‘Beer Street’ in which noble citizens enjoy the finer things in life while drinking beer.

How It's Made

Gin is typically made starting with a strong neutral spirit, one that is usually distilled multiple times for purity. The spirit is then distilled again in the presence of various 'botanicals' which impart new flavours into the spirit. This can be done by steeping the botanicals directly in the belly of the spirit still or by placing the botanicals in a basket which hangs in the neck of the still where flavours are extracted by the rising alcohol vapours during distillation.

For economic and logistical reasons, most gin distilleries purchase bulk neutral spirit instead of making it themselves. Whilst this is a perfectly legitimate way of making gin with some strong arguments in favour of this approach, it has caused some purists to call out the practice as 'lazy'. Not everyone does this though. Some of the gins we'll be showcasing in this calendar are fermented and distilled in-house from raw materials such as grape juice.

Interestingly, the main legal requirement to be able to call a spirit a gin is that the main botanical influence must be from juniper, but there is no regulation about how much juniper is needed. That's lead to a spectrum of gin profiles from classic dry gins through to heavily flavoured and colourful gins which could easily be mistaken as something else in a blind taste.

Juniper?

The quintessential gin botanical, juniper is a small evergreen shrub that grows in almost all regions of the world. It’s a tough plant that not only grows in well fertilised gardens but also survives in places most other plants avoid, like rocky outcrops, sandy soils and high altitudes. Over 50 species of juniper exist, but by far the most commonly encountered species is the ‘Common Juniper’ (surprise!). Their ‘berries’ are actually seeds surrounded by flesh with a distinct ‘piney’ taste. If you take a couple of juniper berries and crush them with your fingers, you’ll realise just how much the flavour of gin is linked to juniper.

Gin in Australia

Over the past 10 years, Australia has seen an explosion in craft gin production. The abundance of unique Australian botanicals continues to be a major drawcard for creative distillers. Be it Davidson’s plum, anise myrtle or lilly pilly, there’s no shortage of unique local ingredients to put in a botanical basket and the diversity of Aussie gin is all the better for it.

A couple of years ago, we became a little edgy about the state of the market. With many hundreds of different Aussie gins on the market produced by a couple hundred distilleries around the country, many of them very small operations, the industry was on shaky ground even before the cost of living crisis started to be discussed around dining tables. Unfortunately this year and the year before we saw some prominent gin distilleries close their doors and there are many others who are currently struggling to make ends meet. The purchase of the advent calendar you're currently consuming helps to keep some of these smaller players going, albeit in a small way.

This Advent Calendar

This advent calendar, now in its ninth year, works just like a regular advent calendar, except that instead of chocolates and nativity scenes, this one is chock full of premium Australian gin. Behind every flap is 30ml of the good stuff. Rip it out of its slot then come back to this page and tap on the corresponding day to reveal some interesting facts about the liquid you’re sipping and the distillery that made it.

Where we have included specific tasting notes or pairing suggestions, these have mostly been provided by the distillers themselves so that you can see what they make of their own creations (and whether you agree!). We've added our own thoughts here and there, but tried to stay as impartial as we can.

Australian Dry Gin
Travelling While Standing Still, VIC

Travelling While Standing Still is an art-inspired gin brand created by Macedon-based photographer Jacqui Henshaw and designer/musician Keith Smith. Their gin is a deeply nostalgic tribute to the Australian Southern coast, designed to evoke memory and place from their cherished family holidays along the Great Ocean Road.

Their Australian Dry Gin is a small-batch, handcrafted London Dry–style spirit infused with native botanicals: seaspray (samphire), saltbush, and desert lime. These botanicals are macro‑seasoned with fresh lime and distilled with juniper, coriander, angelica, orris root, and a few secret elements, all powered with triple-purified water. The result is a briny, herbaceous, and intensely citrusy gin that balances a dry, coastal freshness with zesty vibrancy.

Ideal with a pinch of sea salt and a twist of lime to elevate its coastal essence. It’s also versatile in classic cocktails like Martinis, Gimlets, Negronis or simply enjoyed neat over ice.

Sangiovese Gin
Naught Distilling, VIC

From a speakeasy-style bar/distillery in Eltham, Naught crafts meticulous, small-batch gins in a plush cocktail-first space that doubles as a tasting theatre. They frequently work at the wine-gin intersection, building spirits that read beautifully in stirred and shaken classics but also drink neatly.

Marketed as the world’s original Sangiovese gin, it blends Yarra Valley Sangiovese grapes with a contemporary dry base, delivering red-berry aromatics (raspberry/cherry), a gentle cocoa/baking-spice undertone and textural richness. The goal is to create a wine-adjacent gin that can be poured long with tonic, sipped neat or subbed into citrusy sours for plush fruit lift.

Suggested tonic pairing: Mediterranean tonic with orange or raspberry garnish to play to the red-fruit profile while keeping bitterness soft.

Sublime Contemporary Gin
South Coast Distillery

Born from a group of Wollongong friends, South Coast Distillery is a compact distillery and tasting room in Wollongong and hustled its way to some serious awards within a few years (although it must be said they had been experimenting for about seven years before releasing their first gin). They focus on small-batch modern gins and hands-on classes, with a technical yet approachable style.

Sublime Contemporary Gin revives South Coast's award-winning “Batch Zero” as a permanent expression: lemon myrtle and cardamom headline, grains of paradise add peppery lift, and dandelion root rounds the texture. It’s a decorated gin that's won big awards at ADSA and SFWSC. Think modern, aromatic and mixable.

Suggested tonic pairing: Indian or Mediterranean tonic, garnished with finger lime pearls or grapefruit peel.

Surfer’s Signature Gin
Hang 10 Distillery, NSW

Hang 10 is a Northern Beaches outfit turning rescued local sourdough and surplus loaves into neutral spirit, then redistilling with botanicals to make their gins — an elegant, low-waste “bread-to-booze” loop that doubles as a talking point at the cellar door. Based in Warriewood, they keep production genuinely hands-on: small batches, local partnerships with bakeries, and clear, approachable profiles designed for classic serves. The sustainability piece isn’t just marketing; re-fermenting unsold bread significantly reduces food waste while producing a soft, rounded ethanol base that plays nicely with citrus and piney botanicals.

Surfer’s Signature is their flagship London Dry-style gin, built on that bread-derived base. The distillate is designed to be crisp and sessionable, with juniper and lemon to the fore, and a faint saline snap that nods to its coastal home. The botanical bill is classic, clean and mix-friendly, aiming for glide on the palate rather than high-proof punch.

Suggested tonic pairing: A classic, balanced Indian-style tonic in a 1:3 gin to tonic ratio; garnish with lemon peel.

Ultra Violet Dry Gin
Red Hen Spirits, SA

Previously known as Small Batch Distilling, Red Hen Spirits lays claim to be South Australia’s first modern inner-city distillery. It's located on a piece of land where an illegal distillery known as the Star and Garter once operated in the 1800’s. Red Hen was founded by three brothers and a fellow schoolmate who imported a 100L American-made copper column still then spent the best part of three years doing hundreds of spirit trials on it.

Ultra Violet Dry is juniper-led with coriander and pepper forming the main flavour influences together with a soft vanilla/cassia rounding. The vivid hue is thanks to an infusion of butterfly pea flower, although over time this colouring tends to fade, eventually reverting back to a transparent spirit if left exposed to light for more than a few months.

Suggested tonic pairing: Neutral Indian tonic 1:3, strawberry + rosemary garnish.

Dry Gin
Nonesuch Distillery, TAS

Nonesuch Distillery, founded by husband and wife team Rex and Annette, is nestled up on a hill beside a windy road that leads to Port Arthur in Tasmania. Designed to be a small scale interactive facility, they’re welcoming hosts and if you’re a lucky visitor they’ll involve you in whatever spirit they are making at the time you show up. They make a dry gin, a seasonal sloe gin, a seasonal ‘sloe malt’ (a new-make malt spirit infused with sloe berries) and single malt whisky.

This is a classic London dry style gin but slightly sweeter and with stronger citrus notes. It incorporates most of the botanicals you would find in a classic dry gin (citrus, liquorice, orris root, angelica, coriander, cardamon) as well as native wattleseed. The botanicals are macerated in the still and distilled using a one-shot method (as opposed to individually distilling each botanical then blending). The resultant gin is left unfiltered to preserve as much flavour as possible.

Peppermint Gum Gin
Autonomy Distillers, VIC

Founded and run by an ex-environmental scientist, Autonomy Distillers is a venture with a ton of drive to do things a little differently. As you’d expect, sustainability sits at the core of their beliefs. They collect waste fruit for use in their products and shred all incoming cardboard for reuse as packing material.

This intriguing Peppermint Gum Gin balances cool eucalyptus and mint aromatics with Tasmanian pepperberry heat and lemon myrtle brightness. Most botanicals are steeped for 24–48 hours, then extra juniper and liquorice root are added to a vapour-infusing basket in the still for added mouthfeel.

Green, refreshing, unmistakably “bush,” with enough backbone for a dry tonic.

Fig Gin
Pot & Still, SA

Pot & Still is the distilling arm of Glen Ewin Estate located in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Established in 1845, this estate boasts over 12,000 fig trees cultivated without chemicals for more than 25 years. Every harvest, the team gently poaches estate-grown figs to extract their sweet aroma, essence, and earthiness.

Fig Gin is made by combining the harvested 'fig syrup' with a gin base. The resulting gin presents a crystal clear gold hue. With an ABV of 29%, this is a little less potent than your typical gin, but what it lacks in booze potency it makes up for in flavour intensity many times over.

Expect a bouquet of fresh figs and traditional botanicals. On the palate, it offers a pure and creamy texture dominated by semi-sweet fig flavours, finishing with delicate peel and herbal freshness.

We suggest mixing this gin with sparkling wine and a splash of soda for a refreshing spritz.

Boobialla Gin
Headlands Distilling, NSW

The first distillery in Wollongong, Headlands Distilling was founded by four mates in 2015. The founders met in school and university, going on to become an investment analyst, an engineer, an R&D research consultant and a postdoctoral research fellow, until they put their heads together and decided to open a distillery instead. From the outset, their goal was to operate a ‘grain to glass’ model where all the ingredients are sourced directly from farmers, then fermented and distilled on-site. Sustainability is also high on the agenda. The distillery is powered using 100% renewable energy and they operate a bottle refill program to cut down on glass waste.

This gin is quite unique in that it is distilled exclusively with Australian native juniper (Myoporum insulare) rather than juniper from Europe, yielding a subtler, floral and herbal profile versus European juniper’s piney thump. The rest of the botanicals are also 100% Australian. Treat this gin nicely - it's designed to be elegant sipped neat or with very light mixers.

Mystery Gin 1
Mystery Distillery 1

Today is the first of three mystery gins we've included in this year's advent calendar. These has been drawn from our stash of Aussie gins from around the country.

As this gin has been picked randomly, we don't know what you'll be drinking today. It also means if you're doing gin advent with a friend, they'll likely have something different today. Whatever you've drawn in this little lucky dip, we hope it rocks your socks off!

The Dry
Ester Spirits, NSW

Created by two hospitality veterans, Corinna and Felix, Ester Spirits firmly believes that life’s too short for anything less than ‘fuck off deliciousness’. Inspired by an obsessive quest for the perfect Negroni, the duo began their distilling journey over 10 years ago with a tiny still in a Newtown backyard. After many iterations and non-stop tinkering, Ester Spirits officially launched in 2020.

The botanical load in each of Ester's gins is higher than most others, creating a wrap-around-the-tongue character in the liquid. The Dry is a juniper forward London dry style gin with lashings of sweet citrus and macadamia for a textured finish.

Naturally, this gin makes a great Negroni - just add 30ml sweet vermouth and 30ml bitter aperitif (eg. Campari or... dare we say it... White Possum Scarletta).

Spiced Turkish Delight Gin
Puss & Mew Distillery, VIC

From their suburban Melbourne base, Puss & Mew specialise in flavour-led modern gins that still read as “proper gin.” Their production blends maceration with vapour infusion and careful compounding post-distillation for colour-stable, aroma-rich releases. The team runs a community-minded bar and tasting room, regularly trialling seasonal or themed bottlings alongside their core dry gins. The house style aims to deliver bold aromatics that stay structurally dry — an approach that’s won them a local following for cocktail-friendly bottlings and dessert-inspired one-offs that avoid cloying sweetness.

Spiced Turkish Delight Gin is built around vapour-infused rose petals to capture classic “rosewater” perfume, layered over juniper and warming botanicals (clove, cinnamon, vanilla) with citrus and a post-infusion of hibiscus for its regal blush. The goal is confectionery nostalgia without sugar-bomb sweetness: juniper keeps it honest, spice adds depth, and hibiscus contributes a gentle tartness and colour. It’s conceived to be mixed (tonic or soda) or to slot straight into a floral G&T riff without additional syrups.

Strawberry Gin
Grove Distillery, WA

Having transformed their establishment from a winery, the team at Grove assembled a spirits portfolio spanning absinthe to whisky. There’s a bunch of other stuff that Grove does differently too – not keen on settling simply on being a distillery, a visit to the site can also involve a stay at the attached bungalow, a visit to the attached brewery or a cup of tea at the café. The business was sold last year and the new owners have doubled down on their commitment to the spirits portfolio.

In 2018, Australians were horrified to learn that strawberries had been contaminated by needles in some supermarkets. The industry went into shock and dumped countless tons of perfectly good strawberries into landfill. The folks at Grove knew it had to step in and help somehow, so they bought 400kg of strawberries and set about infusing them into their house gin for three months.

This gin is great in a Strawberry Mojito. Muddle 4 mint leaves and combine with 30ml Strawberry Gin, 10ml lemon juice and 10ml sugar syrup in a shaker. Shake until cold then pour into a tumbler half-filled with ice. Top up with a few splashes of tonic water.

Summer Thyme Gin
Patient Wolf Distilling, VIC

Patient Wolf is a Melbourne-born, cocktail-first gin house who are always pushing the boundaries for contemporary Australian flavours. The team, steered by founders Matt and Dave, have a tight core range (Melbourne Dry, Pinot Noir, Summer Thyme) made using their 220L handmade German copper still. Previously situated in the inner-north suburb of Brunswick, Patient Wolf quickly outgrew the space and upgraded to an impressive establishment in South Melbourne.

Summer Thyme is a Mediterranean-inspired gin that evokes the Amalfi Coast. The flavour brief is simple and vivid: lemons and fresh green thyme layered over a juniper-true base. The result is bright and lemon-zesty up front, moving into piney juniper and herbal lift, with a gentle, rounded sweetness.

The team recommends a Summer Thyme & Lemon Spritz: 30 ml Summer Thyme Gin, 30 ml sparkling wine, 60 ml lemon soda (try CAPI), built over ice and garnished with raspberries + thyme.

Mystery Gin 2
Mystery Distillery 1

Today is the second of three mystery gins we've included in this year's advent calendar. These has been drawn from our stash of Aussie gins from around the country.

As this gin has been picked randomly, we don't know what you'll be drinking today. It also means if you're doing gin advent with a friend, they'll likely have something different today. Whatever you've drawn in this little lucky dip, we hope it rocks your socks off!

Waxed Dry Gin
Loaded Barrel Distillery, VIC

Loaded Barrel Distillery is a family-owned operation in Rowville, Melbourne, founded by head distiller Bob Wilhelm with partner Sue and son Tyrone. Conceived in 2018 and opened to the public in September 2024, the distillery focuses on flavour-forward whisky, gin and small-batch liqueurs, poured in their on-site cocktail bar. Production centres on a custom pot still with a tall tapered neck and inclined lyne arm, designed to encourage passive reflux and produce a light, fruity new-make that takes well to expressive casks.

This imaginative creation that the team have named Waxed Dry Gin integrates natural beeswax for a silky mouthfeel and gentle honey aroma over a juniper-forward base. Other botanicals include oranges, lemons, lemon myrtle and a lick of rock salt (!) to add lift.

Suggested tonic pairing: Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic with an orange twist garnish. This gin is also great neat over a single ice cube.

Just Juniper Gin
Earp Distilling, NSW

Earp Distilling was founded in 2019 in the old industrial precinct of Newcastle. The brainchild of Michael and Richard Earp, the distillery is the latest addition to the Earp family’s growing business empire, on top of their existing ceramics and tiles factory located about a hundred meters away. The distillery features two large automated stainless steel stills which do all the grunt work in making the distillery’s products, contrasted with a dozen tiny (<10L volume) stills located in their R&D room for rapid product development. This same room houses over a hundred different tinctures made from botanicals sourced from all over the world.

During development of Earp’s core gins, the team spent months progressing through hundreds of recipes, incrementally numbering each attempt as they went. But there was one gin they had in mind for which they didn't need to do too much pondering over complex botanical combinations. Just Juniper Gin is literally a gin made with one botanical - juniper. This is a really interesting mono-botanical showpiece that will demonstrate just how dominant the juniper flavour is in any gin. It also serves as a fantastic blank canvas for experimenting with different tonic waters.

Aromatic Gin
Threefold Distilling, SA

Threefold Distilling was, perhaps by no surprise, founded by three people. The trio are not newbies to the booze scene though, consisting of Luke Fleming (general manager at Paloma Bar and Pantry), Aidan Shaw (manager at 2KW Bar) and Steven Roennfeldt (owner of Steve The Bartender). Inspired over a shared gin & tonic, the trio spent 12 months experimenting before settling on a recipe for their first gin. Operating out of a warehouse in suburban Adelaide, the distillery really crams a lot into a small space. It features the gin production and storage area along with a full service bar and cellar door within a footprint of about 200sqm.

Aromatic Gin is Threefold's debut release and remains the benchmark for what Threefold does best: a bright citrus nose of grapefruit and lemon interwoven with juniper and a herbal framework of rosemary, lavender and native pepperberries. The botanical recipe balances floral lift against pepper heat and a silky mouthfeel created by precise cut management. It was formulated expressly for a G&T.

Suggested tonic pairing: CAPI or Fever-Tree Indian Tonic in a 1:3 gin to tonic ratio over ice, garnished with grapefruit and rosemary sprig.

Aqua Vitae Modern Gin
7K Distillery, TAS

7K Distillery was founded by a lad who grew up in the country with an insatiable interest in making things. While doing an apprenticeship, Tyler began to dream about creating his own distillery - from scratch. So in 2016 that's exactly what he did. The initial building for the distillery was cut from two used shipping containers and a 1100L copper pot still was built from the ground up. Designing and building the still from scratch meant that it would perfectly fit the confined size of the shipping containers and gave Tyler more of a personal connection with the still itself. The distillery has since outgrown its initial creative shell several times.

Aqua Vitae Modern Australian Gin is the distillery’s take on a distinctly locally influenced gin. It features a juniper core complemented by Tasmanian eucalyptus and mandarin peel for crisp aromatics, plus coriander seed and angelica root for depth. The profile is cool, citrus-driven and silky, crafted for easy-drinking G&Ts and summery cocktails.

Mystery Gin 3
Mystery Distillery 1

Today is the last of three mystery gins we've included in this year's advent calendar. These has been drawn from our stash of Aussie gins from around the country.

As this gin has been picked randomly, we don't know what you'll be drinking today. It also means if you're doing gin advent with a friend, they'll likely have something different today. Whatever you've drawn in this little lucky dip, we hope it rocks your socks off!

GINFUSION Lemon Myrtle with Elderflower Tonic
Original Spirit Co, VIC

Based on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Original Spirit Co is a small family-run operation. Its founders, Barbara and Christoph, were perhaps destined to meet and run a distillery together. Barbara grew up on her dad’s family farm in Germany where she recalls making cider, apple schnapps and amari. Christoph grew up being asked by his mum to forage wild berries to be used for making homemade liqueurs.

Their GINFUSION series bridges the gap between ready-to-pour cocktails and classic spirits. This edition melds vivid Australian lemon myrtle with elderflower in a pre-balanced mix of their house dry gin and natural tonic. It's intended for serving straight over ice. Expect bright citrus aromatics with a floral sweetness. This one will likely be a divisive flavour and Barbara herself says that it's the most talked about of their GINFUSION series.

Yuzu Gin
Imbue Distillery, VIC

Imbue Distillery was founded in Melbourne’s northern suburbs by husband-and-wife team Mel and Mick Sheard, both hospitality veterans with backgrounds in fine dining and liqueur production. Their ethos is 'spirit with soul': blending culinary craft, seasonal ingredients and local provenance. They began with distinctive gins and aperitifs made from Australian fruits and spices, before expanding into whisky under the Angel’s Share banner.

Yuzu Gin distills the rare Japanese citrus fruit into a vivid, perfumed spirit. Fresh yuzu zest is macerated in Imbue’s flagship dry gin before a second distillation of the skins to capture volatile oils responsible for its distinct aroma - a blend of mandarin, lime and grapefruit. The result is bright, aromatic and complex. It's bottled unfiltered to preserve the natural oils, so there may be a harmless sediment that appears when poured.

Pair with a light or dry tonic (or even soda) and a strip of yuzu or orange peel to accentuate the vivid citrus. Keep the dilution modest to let the perfume shine.

Australian Native No.2 Gin
Swan River Distillery, WA

Run by father and daughter combo Scott and Abby, Swan River Distilling started off as a bit of a backyard hobby, exploring native flavours and experimenting with different local botanicals in a homemade still. The COVID lockdowns in 2020 gave them the perfection opportunity to really immerse themselves in their hobby, scale up production and take things commercial. They’re now regulars at many local markets and their range includes seven gins, a couple of vodkas, an absinthe and a handful of liqueurs, each made with Australian sourced ingredients.

Australian Native No. 2 is a refined evolution of their original release, incorporating saltbush, gumbi gumbi, boab nut, native basil and thyme. These botanicals lend a savory, earthy tone balanced by gentle floral lift and a touch of coastal salinity. Juniper remains the core element though. This gin is designed for both martinis and long drinks, showcasing a distinctly West Australian expression of terroir.

Suggested tonic pairing: Use a low-sugar or dry tonic to highlight the native botanicals, with a garnish of lemon myrtle leaf or lime zest for freshness.

Sloe Gin
Sin Gin Distillery, WA

Sin Gin Distillery, located on the outskirts of Perth, is run by owners Mark and Kate. Mark was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years and now head distiller, while Kate was a hotelier and is now the boss. Established in 2017, the distillery now has a team of over 15 and a range of gins including their original 'Seven Deadly Sins' series and a handful of more limited releases.

Their Sloe Gin adapts the classic British recipe to the Australian climate, using locally grown sloe (blackthorn) berries soaked in Sin Gin’s dry gin base for several months. The result is deeply coloured and aromatic, bursting with notes of ripe plum, almond and spice, yet less sweet than many English counterparts.

Suggested tonic pairing: Mix with Fever-Tree Lemon Tonic (or another citrus-forward tonic) in a 1:2 gin to tonic ratio and add a lemon slice for brightness.

Chrissy Bickie Gin
Five Eleven Distilling, SA

Of course we had to share a rather Christmassy gin today.

Five Eleven Distilling is the sister company to Six Twelve Brewing, both based in North-East Adelaide. The original Six Twelve name was inspired by the head brewer who is seven foot tall (ie. six foot, twelve inches). That's a lot of brewer. The distillery is family owned by ex-farmers and a new kid on the block, having been established in late 2022. The distiller is, however, six foot four. Hmm...

Chrissy Bickie Gin is inspired by the aromas of a Christmas biscuit tin — layers of sweet spice, vanilla, citrus peel and gentle biscuit-like maltiness. It’s obviously crafted to be fun and festive but don't expect overwhelming sweetness. The gin base provides structure for warming botanicals such as cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, while a hint of citrus zest keeps it lively.

Suggested tonic pairing: Best with a citrus-led Mediterranean tonic and an orange wheel to lift the spice.