Why make a liqueur?? well why not. We have a saturated gin market and if I am to create a new product then it has to be linked to what I do, have a good story and meaning behind it and be something that I love to bits, like my gins.

When I moved to Kaikōura to live with my now husband on his family farm, I was introduced to this massive heritage raspberry patch. The raspberries were renown around Kaikōura for their beautiful fresh and tart taste and they were prolific in number. The birds never really bothered them and for 17 plus years now I have funnelled channels into the raspberry patch at the start of the season and pick every few days for pavlova toppings, breakfast fruits and for the last few years since making gin, raspberry liqueur to go with my cocktails that I make at events.

Over these couple years, friends and distillers alike have commented on how devine and delicious my raspberry liqueur is and that I should get it up into production. In the too hard basket I though as I am already too busy in the distillery as it was, but curiosity as they say got me thinking… what if I did make this on a bigger scale and produce bottles for people to enjoy not just with gin but with bubbles or on its own over ice.. the idea was born and into creative mode I went.

A couple months later… on the eve of valentines day 2024 I launched my new product… Raspberry Liqueur.. this is a vodka based liqueur so it is utterly pure, the raspberries punch out on the nose and on the palate in such a delicate subtle way with a wee hint of sweetness and touch of heat from a 27% alcohol level. This is good… I mean seriously good… I spent ages bottling my first batch trying not to spill too much but making a mess… lessons learnt. 80 bottles later here we have it my first raspberry liqueur ready for eager tasters… I hope I have done my husbands late parents proud… Ray and Arna nourished and nurtured those raspberries for years, I reacon they might have liked a wee drop over some ice. Now to convert my farming husband from speights to a more refined delicate drink… wish me luck!

My raspberry liqueur is disappearing fast, but it can be bought direct through me or on the website as part of my new Distillery gift pack. I intend to add this to the website once I have production in full swing and have figured out the nuts and bolts with posting a small package sustainably… so hang tight its coming…