The Gold Coast’s newest craft spirit manufacturer, WildFlower Gin Distillery, opened its cellar doors to the public last weekend, complete with an eclectic bar for people and their pets to enjoy a drink. 

WildFlower Gin founder James Greig said: “We are so excited to be officially opening our Gold Coast distillery to the public, for people to taste our gins and our unique special edition drinks we create.”

The stylish venue features antique leather chairs and range of vintage collectables including typewriters, antique phones, piano and a very distinctive chandelier.

“When we were creating the distillery, we wanted to make a space that feels personal and spoke to the heart of WildFlower so we included a range of fascinating vintage items to represent the individual botanicals in our gin, as well as the 1000 litre still we use when creating our gin,” Greig said.

“One of my favourite pieces is the chandelier, which is an old rim from an original Ford Model T that is more than 100 years old and used to hang in the living room of my house growing up.” 

Creating a bar was not the original plan, but Greig fell in love with the idea following an overwhelming amount of positive responses from WildFlower gin making class attendees and visitors wanting to come back for a drink. 

“Our offering has always been gin making classes and gin tasting sessions by appointment only so we can’t wait to open the doors to a venue that offers something unique for people who love gin,” Mr Greig said. 

“The venue has really had a life of its own.” 

Known for creating unique limited-editions gins and even vodkas, such as their Australia Day Lamington Vodka, the WildFlower bar will give locals a chance to experience exclusive flavours and one-off creations. 

The Lamington Vodka is a star ingredient in the bar’s Lamington Espresso Martini, mixed with coffee liqueur, fresh coffee and Wildflower honey.

Launching the Burleigh-based distillery early last year as COVID-19 hit Australia, WildFlower Gin quickly pivoted and began operations as a hand sanitiser manufacturer and has since resumed being a local distiller of gin – and sometimes vodka.

WildFlower’s Signature Gin won Gold in the Australian Gin Awards, driving up its popularity and initially selling out for three months worth of stock. The team have now caught up, and the Signature Gin is now stocked in most Gold Coast bottle shops. 

Boasting two core Gin products, their award-winning signature WildFlower Gin and a newly released Pink Gin, WildFlower’s distinct flavours come from their own backyard honey and the unique flavours their Burleigh bees contribute.

WildFlower Gin Distillery is located at 2/486 Scottsdale Drive, Varsity Lakes, Queensland.