Bass & Flinders’ Holly Klintworth never thought she’d be guest hosting a Zoom party, but like many Mornington Peninsula operators in recent months, pivoted her business towards an online audience while the distillery was closed to the public.
In between producing boutique gin, brandy and spirits (and botanical hand sanitiser) at the family-run distillery, she and the team replicated the gin tasting experience for those at home with virtual tastings.
The distillery doors have reopened, but with in-person masterclasses still off the cards for awhile, their At Home Gin Masterclass Kit, inspired by the Australian outback, is filling the gap.
Featuring a heady array of native botanicals such as Geralton wax, sandlewood nut and cinnamon mrtyle, the DIY kit includes individually flavoured spirits (known as distillates), an aroma and flavour wheel, dried botanicals housed in test tubes, and some tonic water to enjoy with your "invention".
Holly guides gin enthusiasts through the process with a step-by-step video tutorial, and as an added incentive, she’ll mail you a bottle of bespoke gin after you finalise your recipe.
For the less ambitious (or those partial to a Saturday night in), the Dromana-based distillers are still offering free Zoom tasting sessions, for parties of 8 or more, with group purchases of their At Home Gin Experience kits. Each pack comes with four tasting bottles of their craft gins.
It’s pretty much the distillery door experience in your own home,” Holly says. “And you get an in-depth chat with one of our gin experts.”
Replicating a night out with friends is hard from home, but Bass & Flinders makes staying in that much easier — and you might even learn something.
