Lou Perri - Palate Pleasures

focus_contributor.

with LOU PERRI

FROM THE STUNNED MULLET

Beautiful Port Mac…. there’s no more glorious time of the year than now. This week as I write, the days have been deliciously warm and sunny, the ocean has been crystal clear, aquamarine and the absolute perfect swimming temperature. It’s so close as you drive along Pacific Drive that you can almost taste it…the smell of the salt air, the glimmering sunlight reflection, the inviting warm, soft sand ready and waiting to caress your weary feet. But, no. You can’t stop can you? There’s places to go, people to see, work to be done. As the holiday season begins it can be all too easy to fall in to the familiar trap when you’re still ‘at home’ of getting things done and feeling as if you need to remain on the endless loop of keeping busy and getting constantly distracted by the myriad of things that present themselves as needing to be done. With this in mind, I wonder is it possible to have our cake and eat it too….in this beautiful and popular holiday destination that visitors flock to at this time, of course happily frolicking and taking full and unashamed advantage of all the wonderful attractions that this amazing region has to offer. By this, what I mean is – could it be possible to be a full time Port Mac resident and somehow live ‘as if’ on holiday? After all, we’ve got it all right here. Why not enjoy it at a deeper level from the comfort of our own homes? Instead of driving on by that perfect beach vista, why not keep the car loaded with cossies, towel and sunscreen just so you can just pull over on a total whim and take full advantage of the perfect conditions. Or maybe just push that ‘to do’ list on the backburner and actually take a ‘tourist’ drive out to one of the many spectacular destinations throughout our hinterland. The thing is, if you’re a bit crafty about it, it is entirely possible to ‘live near your beach and swim in it too’. Even if duty calls louder than anything else and you can’t quite shake work, then you still very much have the option to be able to transform your day from office related headaches into a simple and blissful days end of fish and chips as the sun sets. So there’s really no need for FOMO whilst watching those lucky holiday makers gallivanting around and actually enjoying the place! As I’ve mentioned, Port Macquarie and it’s surrounds has the perfect coastal vibe, not to be beaten. But unfortunately for many of us, we have trouble incorporating our day-today selves with our holiday selves. Our home, stunning though it is, is often associated with the stressful and the mundane. Long working days, time pressed school runs and queues at the supermarket are also located right here. Too often we clench the steering wheel, preoccupied by a million and one trivial concerns as we drive past some of the most breathtaking scenery on the coast. Visitors dine at the restaurant, absolutely enthralled by our beautiful region – “you are so lucky to live here” – we hear almost every day. And we are. With just a few little tweaks we can enjoy the best of both worlds. Failing that there’s always a trip to be booked somewhere else…only to return and think “wow, our beaches are sooo much better’.

THE LITTLE SHACK

Sliced Strawberries Light Rum Lime Juice 1/2 oz Simple Syrup Ice

Muddle 3 or 4 sliced strawberries in a mixing glass or cocktail shaker until crushed and most of the juice has been released. Add the light rum, the lime juice, and 1/2 ounce of simple syrup. Fill a shaker with ice and shake well. Fine strain into a chilled cocktail or margarita glass and garnish with a strawberry. Serve and enjoy.

Annelize Coetzer and Estelle Venter are two of the founding members of PMQ Distillery. The Distillery was born of an idea between friends, and they are now making delicious gin and vodka incorporating locally sourced ingredients, and hosting customers for tastings and the yummiest cocktails.

It’s a bit of a cliché, but we are four families who one night were hanging out, and our friend Ray Barth, who is now our Head Distiller brought over some home made gin and we were hooked. We all thought, ‘we should sell this’ and that’s how the concept of PMQ Distillery was conceived. While the idea is to sell gin and vodka, our main concept is the brand itself and what it stands for, which is incredibly important to us. We want it to be a part of the PMQ community, in doing so we try to use local produce and incorporate as many local businesses as we can.

It has been incredibly amazing, we get such great responses from those who visit our distillery and through community chatter on our social pages - we honestly didn’t expect so much positivity and support.

Our approach to making gin is to understand stilling as an art, which requires the master to perfectly balance the purity of the spirit and concentration of flavour. All our gins and vodkas are triple distilled ensuring the best quality of spirit, perfectly smooth on the pallet. Our master distiller has spent years perfecting our subtle, yet surprisingly flavour filled spirits. We combine well known gin botanicals - juniper, coriander, star anise, and citrus with lesser known native botanicals like Lemon Myrtle and Bramble Berry.

We knew we wanted a few varietals when we launched, so we took the time during COVID to really refine our recipes and our Master Distiller Ray, has done an incredible job. Our goal was to create a gin that you wanted to drink neat, not diluted with mixers (but if that’s your style, we accept it, we don’t judge haha). Our flavours currently are:Lighthouse Beach Dry Gin - Our traditional London dry gin is fresh, clean and crisp but so smooth you can enjoy it neat or over ice. Keynotes of aromatic juniper and a subtle citrus twist, balanced with spicy hints of coriander and fragrant lemongrass. Signature Gin infused with Lemon Myrtle – Our gin royalty. Traditional botanicals blend floral characteristics with a touch of star anise, perfectly complemented by native lemon. Easy to enjoy and share.

Beechwood Gin infused with Natural Honey – This one is Ray’s baby. Ray is also a beekeeper by trade and the natural honey used in this gin comes from his bees. This liquid gold gin is deliciously sweet with natural honey flavour, absolutely no mixers needed here, almost like sipping a liqueur.

Our main focus is to produce a quality product that stands out but is still affordable. Being gin lovers ourselves we are a bit biased when it comes to choosing new blends, and we go with what we would enjoy in gin, that being more citrus profiles, or simply a sweeter blend. Finding the perfect balance of flavours is a lengthy process, involving numerous still runs, recipe adjustments, in-house and external tasting inputs. We are excited to begin bottling our newest blend - Pink Bramble Berry.

It is incredibly important for us, and it is one of our foundation pillars that was discussed when building our brand. James, our brand guy and one part founder, is always quick to ensure we stay true to this fundamental value. PMQ is not just a world class destination that we love, it is also our home, our community and if we can give back to it, we will. We have been in discussions with various industry bodies that promote Port Macquarie and we want to collaborate with them to shine an even bigger light over here so definitely stay tuned for that. When it comes to ingredients we source only Australian produced or locally sourced products. Our Signature Lemon Myrtle is infused with locally grown Lemon Myrtle from the beautiful Lake Innes grounds. Honey produced by hives around Comboyne, and Bramble Berry grown in the wilds of Mount Seaview, are also amongst our star ingredients. Our business model is one of sustainability, and we strive to be environmentally conscious. We’re looking into implementing a bottle return and refill scheme for our local community.

We all share the workload in some capacity. Ray is our Master Distiller, but when it comes to the day-to-day running of the business we have various skill sets that we utilise to build

Beechwood Gin infused with Natural Honey – This one is Ray’s baby. Ray is also a beekeeper by trade and the our business - from brand and marketing, logistics, sales, operations etc. This natural honey used is still a side hustle for us in this gin comes so an all-for-one and onefrom his bees. for-all mentality has been adopted.

We offer a few cocktails showcasing our gin and vodka spirits, as well as seasonal themed cocktails. Our ‘A little bit naughty Grinch Cocktail’ is a best seller. A combination of sweet honey and ginger beer, sour lime and grapefruit juice, with a naughty hint of chili and vodka. I would recommend you try our hugely popular Cocktail Flight showcasing our spirits in a selection of traditional cocktails - Moscow Mule, Cranberry G&T, Cucumber Gin Gimlet and Bee’s Knees.

The best place is our Facebook page which we keep up to date and communicate with our PMQD community.