The past decade has seen a huge rise in gin consumption and one of WA’s newest distilleries is producing this popular spirit using a rather unusual product. The Cannabis Botanical Distillery (CBD) uses, as its name implies, cannabis as its alcohol base.
In addition to gin they also produce vodka and ginger beer but it’s definitely their Sativa Gin that has consumers eagerly slicing up lemons and dusting off the cocktail shaker.
CBD’s owner, Matt Beaton, says he’d always had a dream to start a distillery and after joining his wife on her parents’ 360 hectare Raintree Farm in the Great Southern region, that dream has become a reality.
“My in-laws, Steve and Karen Birkbeck, were among the first farmers in the State to plant Cannabis Sativa (hemp) for industrial purposes. As a family we began researching uses for cannabis crops and decided to create hemp ethanol for alcohol,” Matt explains.
“It’s important to point out that Cannabis Sativa is a different plant variety to Cannabis Indica which is the THC-containing, psychoactive drug more commonly known as marijuana. We aim to make consumers happy but, no, you won’t get high.”
With 10 hectares set aside for cannabis crops and all the gin production taking place in the same location, this is WA’s first ‘paddock to bottle’ gin distillery using cannabis grown onsite.
And the timing couldn’t have been better as much of gin’s revival has been due to people like Matt experimenting with flavours and ingredients.
Gin has its origins in the old Dutch liquor called ‘Jenever’. Made by infusing a neutral spirit with Juniper berries, the drink was once consumed as a tonic to ward off Bubonic Plague. gin then became extremely popular in the late 1600s when it became cheaper than beer leading to what was known as a ‘gin craze’ in England.
Over the centuries consumers have fallen in and out of love with gin and its most recent period of unrequited love came after the Second World War when other spirits stepped up and stole the spotlight.
But gin began a major comeback in the late 2000s with the advent of craft distilleries. New technology in stills and faster distilling methods opened up the market for ‘Craft Gin’ to become the spirit equivalent to Boutique Beer. The adding of botanicals such as cardamom and coriander (which are some of those used by CBD), has led to the creation of unique crafted spirits that’s winning drinkers over in their droves. So eagerly have the new gin breeds been accepted that Australian gin consumption grew by a spirited 36% last year.
Having produced thousands of bottles of Sativa Gin since opening last year, Matt and the team recently turned their attention to developing their second gin variety. Due for release in late July, ReGin is a product that’s particularly close to Matt’s heart.
“We created this gin in response to the devastating bushfires that swept through our local landscape in February. Properties, livestock and homes were lost and there were many scary moments as we fought to protect our farm.
“ReGin is a reference to the regeneration of land that comes after a bushfire. All profits from ReGin will be going to our local fire brigades and we’ll work with them to purchase specific things they need. And we’re referring to those ‘on the ground’ types of things that often don’t get funding – like radios and extra personal safety equipment,” Matt says.
There’s no doubt that a gin developed with altruistic objectives is certainly worth drinking to.
Cheers!
CBD’s hemp-based spirits are available at quality liquor stores in Perth, direct from Raintree Farm’s restaurant The Dam and via their online shop at https://thedam.raintree.com.au/shop
