Great Ocean Road Gin: Ann Houlihan
“The natural environment of the Great Ocean Road is the inspiration for my gin, I try to use as many local botanicals as possible.
Coastal plants such as kelp, pigface and saltbush all lend lovely salt characteristics. Eucalyptus enhances the juniper notes and provides a distinctly Australian flavour.
We use a local honey from Torquay called Surfcoast Honey, which adds some delicious sweet notes in the gin.” ”
Great Ocean Road Gin is a small batch, craft gin company in Aireys Inlet producing local gins which feature botanicals and ingredients from the Surf Coast region. Their signature gins have 24 botanicals including coast daisy, salt bush, hop wattle, pigface, kelp, indigenous eucalypts and Surfcoast Honey. These ingredients make their gin truly unique to its location.
The business was established in late 2017 by Ann Houlihan and she began development of the first gin recipe in early 2018.
“We started a crowd funding campaign to support our first production and had our first gin Guvvos on the market in August 2018. We opened the Tasting Room and Gin Garden in Aireys Inlet in November 2018” says Ann. .
No stranger to the Australian Food and Drinks industry, Ann has over 20 years’ experience, with an impressive background in project management, marketing, and market development for organisations such as the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria.
“As part of working in this industry, I led the establishment of the Australian Distilled Spirit Awards in 2015, after identifying an early opportunity with the emerging spirits industry taking shape in Australia. I was exposed early on through the competition process to different gin styles and the Australian gins that were being created using the provenance of place, and wanted to develop my own gin unique to the Surf Coast and to be part of the thriving food and drink scene taking place here.”
What made you decide to operate your business here?
“I’ve had a long association, over 47 years with the Surf Coast as a regular weekender and holiday maker. My parents built a house at Moggs Creek in 1970 which later burnt down in the Ash Wednesday Bushfires but they rebuilt.” Ann says.
“In 2017, I decided to quit my job and make a sea change to Anglesea with my family. My kids are skateboarders and surfers, who were equally keen to live here permanently. I wanted to start my own business, a craft gin company using local ingredients and set about to create a coastal gin.”
What are the advantages of doing business on the Surf Coast?
“Supporting local is the best thing about being a business in the Surf Coast. We have received amazing support from people who live and work in this community and we are really proud to be a part of it, as a family and as a business.”
What is your most popular product?
“Our Take Home Gin Tasting Kits are probably our most popular at the moment! Our Take Home Kit includes 3 x 50ml bottles of our gins, a bottle or tonic, dehydrated fruit garnish and tasting notes, so if you can’t visit us at Aireys you can do a self guided tasting of our gins in the comfort of your own home.”
“We have lots of friends buying the kits then having their own Zoom tastings at home. Our single serve cocktails are also a hit with gin lovers enjoying their own cocktail parties online too!”
What’s next for Great Ocean Road Gin?
“Currently we are working with another small business in Aireys, called Stir Crazy Kitchen. Helen sells fabulous flavoured cordials and delicious biscuits.”
“We have just launched a new single serve at home cocktail range and have used Helen’s Kaffir Lime cordial in our Gimlet which is delicious.”
“Helen and I also work to try to reduce waste in our products. In making our gins we use citrus peel, so we are using the peel and provide some of our whole fruit to Helen to use in her cordials.”
Shop Great Ocean Road Gin
VISIT The Tasting Room and Gin Garden at 32 Great Ocean Road, Aireys Inlet. Check website for opening hours.
You can experience Great Ocean Road Gin at their Tasting Room and Gin Garden located in Aireys Inlet. They currently have 4 gins available, their gold medal winning contemporary dry gin Guvvos, their trophy medal winning Navy Strength gin, Split Point and 2 gin liqueurs (Raspberry and a new Grapefruit cello). They also make a premium premix G&T can featuring their own artisan tonic and four single serve cocktails. It really is a must visit on the Great Ocean Road.
Buy online direct from their website - www.greatoceanroadgin.com.au
SPECIAL OFFER for the Buy Surf Coast campaign, for the month of October you can purchase their signature gin Guvvos for $80 ($5 off the online price). Promo code INSPIRED
