Well, I finally got the planets to align and I was able to get the crew to a special place to film both the introduction of my series and a pilot segment. I can’t say where yet, but as I write the many Terrabytes of content is being reviewed for a “paper edit” by my supervising producer in the US and then it’s back to my editor in Sydney to bring it all together, with a designer doing the graphics right now and music to match etc, so a bit to do, but it’s moving along well.

The plan then is to have it shopped to various platforms / channels in the coming months, and hopefully one will like it enough to commission the full 5 x 45 minute episode series, hosted by yours truely to be filmed next year.  Each episode will feature a particular type of spirit in several locations around Australia, and the places and communities that inspire the makers of fine craft spirits, plus a cocktail or two along the way, with high production values.

Needless to say, it was great fun on the shoot, I felt right at home and the crew was so professional – so I’m sure they’ll make me look the part Plus I chose the locations and distillery carefully and they made us so welcome and were just ideal for this type of story telling, so hopefully we’ll have some good news to report back on before too long and something to share with you.

New Distillers

Meantime the growth in craft distilling in Australia and New Zealand continues, but with a bit of a slowdown, including some closing their doors as economic headwinds take their toll in an already crowded market with a few big brands dominating the market share.

• So I’ve added 6 new gin makers to the Australian Gin List – totalling 660 now.
• There are 80 Aussie rum distillers
• 229 Australian Vodka brands (noting there are distilleries making all of the above)
• Plus 112 New Zealand Gin brands.

Meet the Distillers on YouTube and more 

Don’t forget to swing past my YouTube channel which has weekly short clips featuring interviews with distillers, plus Martini pro-tips and more in over 70 episodes.

You’ll find the channel here.

PS: This week marks 11 years since I started this website, amazing!  A sincere thanks for being here and sharing the journey, the best is yet to come!