The Executive
In no particular order:
Flora, doing her best Ewok impression; Mr Bill, wondering where his dinner is; and Jim, always waiting for someone to throw something.
THE TEAM
Gavin and Karen are the human face of the team.
Gavin is the master distiller, lifter of heavy things, talented chicken wrangler and all-round handyman.
Karen is the sorcerer's apprentice, labeller, packer, and Gavin’s number one gin taster.
The Executive Management Team also includes Mr Bill, Jim and Flora.
Mr Bill is the elder statesman of the distillery dogs and has an innate talent for sleeping on the job and plonking himself down in the most inconvenient place possible.
Jim is our newest canine recruit and is enthusiastically embracing his duties as distillery dog in training. He particularly enjoys eating the rye flour that we use to seal the stills, barking at cows and chasing spherical objects.
Flora is the baby of the team but already making quite a splash as the distillery's Public Relations Manager. Despite looking like a red-headed Ewok she is, in fact, a highland cow.
THE Place
North of Eden Distillery is on a 12 acre smallholding nestled in the rolling hills of the Bega Valley on Australia's pristine Sapphire Coast. Half way between Sydney and Melbourne and under three hours from Canberra, it's where we make all our sprits and it's also our home.
The distillery itself used to be a farm shed. We converted it into a distillery over a period of 12 months, putting in power and water and finally installing "Jill" in October 2018. In mid 2019 we started work converting another part of the shed into our cellar door and Gin School, which we finished in late December 2019.
Like many other parts of regional NSW, the Bega Valley was badly impacted by drought as well as the 2020 Black Summer bushfires. Over 70% of the land area of the shire was damaged in the fires, making it one of the worst affected local government areas in Australia. The farm itself had fires on three sides for over six weeks getting to within a couple of kilometres of our boundary on multiple occasions. But we were one of the lucky ones. The village of Cobargo, just to our north, was razed to the ground on New Year's Eve 2019. Lives, homes and livelihoods were lost.
The impact of the fires on the social, emotional and economic fabric of this small regional area has been profound and will be long lasting. But the sense of community is strong, and the desire to recover even stronger.
Help us in that recovery by coming to visit. Come see our beautiful valley and amazing coastline. Wander the pristine wilderness of our national parks and watch humpback whales from the shoreline. Eat plump award-winning local oysters and sample fabulous local beers and wines. Hang out with friendly locals and hear their stories. And before you go home, come visit us at North of Eden.
The Home of Heavenly Gins