our story
FROM SOURCE TO SIP
ADVENTURERS SPIRIT
Welcome to Matahui Distillery, where every sip tells a story of nature’s bounty and craftsmanship. Our commitment to small-batch production means each bottle is a labour of love; hand-crafted in our distillery in the heart of rural Bay of Plenty.
Matahui Distillery was founded with a simple goal: to create the highest quality, small batch artisian gins and liquers using the best locally sourced ingredients. By growing a majority of botanicals on site, or sourcing as locally as possible, we can make products that are truly of their place, here in the beautiful Bay of Plenty.
INSPIRED BY NATURE
Launching Our Micro Gin Distillery: 'A Journey from Source to Sip'
Our micro gin distillery was launched at the beginning of 2023, but owners Paul and Angela's passion for making award-winning gins and liqueurs began much earlier. In 2018, Paul bought himself a small home-use still and experimented with distilling alcohol whilst Angela enjoyed turning the alcohol into liqueurs.
From Home Experiments to Award-Winning Gins
This hobby grew into a dream of making local gin, with a commercial still, and growing as many of our own botanicals as possible. Of course, all good things take time, and with life happening around us, it took another five years and considerable prodding from our friend Shelley to get us moving. But we wanted to do the job as well as possible, so we invested in a state-of-the-art still to help us produce the highest quality gin we can.
In Search of The Perfect Location
So the research started and the vision began to take shape. The search for the perfect location, the dream of being able to grow our own citrus and herbs, and every botanical possible to put into our product started to come alive. Anything we can’t produce on site, we source as locally as possible and with strict standards.
Gins that are kind on the planet
We care about the environment and take great care to ensure only the purest alcohol and most natural botanicals go into our bottles. We are a team with genuine heart and passion, and we are truly proud of what we have created. We've only just started our adventure.
All our luxury spirits and liqueurs are made with 100% natural ingredients. At the heart of this is our 'gin garden' where we have planted hundreds of different potential botanicals.
Using permaculture principles, we are growing our botanicals in harmony with nature as much as we possibly can. We don't use intensive sprays and pesticides, we hand harvest, and we distill, bottle, and label everything on site.
Sustainability at the Core of Our Distillery
All our luxury spirits and liqueurs are made with 100% natural ingredients. At the heart of this is our 'gin garden' where we have planted hundreds of different potential botanicals. Using permaculture principles, we are growing our botanicals in harmony with nature as much as we possibly can. We don't use intensive sprays and pesticides, we hand harvest, and we distill, bottle, and label everything on site.