Sea to Still - an interactive journey
On our last event under the Sydney Cocktail Club banner, we ventured out of the usual tasting venues for an interactive adventure in the northern beaches of NSW. Presented in partnership with Dramnation, the day saw us all meeting at Wynyard on a bright sunny morning for a bus pick up to North Curl Curl beach. Along the way, expert forager Diego Bonetto entertained the crowd with tales of how he started out in foraging together with a brief background on the ethics and legalities of foraging.
On arrival at North Curl Curl beach, we enjoyed an informative and entertaining walk around the surrounds, Diego enthralling us all with nuggets of information about plants we encountered along the way. Who knew that the innocuous looking morning glory flower contained properties that could get you high if ingested in enough quantities???
Following our foraging walk, we stopped for a short mini-picnic by the sea, with sea inspired canapes to slake the morning pangs. On serve was a dram of Old Pulteney whisky or the Manly Distillery Gin served with a selection of PS Sodas and tonic.
Refreshed and ready to roll, we headed to Manly Spirits Distillery Co, Sydney's first coastal distillery for a tour of their inner workings followed by a tasting of their gins and vodkas. Manly Spirits are also the first Sydney distillery to utilise foraged botanicals in the making of their spirits, and the maritime influence was evident when tasting their gin and the vodka.
We then made the short walk across to local brewery 4 Pines, where we were given a tour of their facilities. For those who drink whisky (of which Manly Distillery is slated to release in 2019), the process of whisky distillation essentially starts with making beer, so understanding the process of beer making gave us all an insight into what whisky makers have to master right off the bat. Our tour concluded with a generous tasting paddle of 5 of the brewery's flagship beers and many then stayed on to make the most of the food menu whilst some headed back to the bar at the distillery for a couple of cheeky cocktails to close off our Good Food Month event!
A huge thanks to Diego Bonetto, Manly Spirits Distillery Co as well as 4 Pines Brewery for their expertise and hospitality. This was truly a Sea to Still experience like no other! A big mighty thanks also to the Jugernauts for taking some amazing photos (as pictured above) and video of the day