Gavin Hughes & Karen Touchie - Stony Creek Farm

Still Magic

Episode 22 - Guardianship and Legacy

Welcome to the Still Magic podcast, your one-click audio stop for all things gin. Be it gin making, gin producing, gin distilling, gin manufacturing, gin commercialising, gin tasting, gin drinking, gin steeping, and everything else in between.

The distillers' lot is punctuated by problem solving, ingenuity and resourcefulness, with lashings of commitment for your craft thrown in for good measure.

When Gavin Hughes and Karen Touchie spent quality time visiting Victoria’s Yarra Valley with friends from Queensland, they could not have imagined the entrepreneurial roller-coaster that was about to unfold merely days later.

They both had full-time jobs that were taking a toll on their lives and limiting the time they could spend together.

That all changed one fateful evening when Karen's random property search on Google, set off a chain reaction prompting a major course correction for them both; leaving what was familiar - albeit exhausting and draining - to pursue a distilling dream in Bega, on the New South Wales Sapphire Coast.

https://www.northofeden.com.au/

Gavin had extensive experience in the distilling industry, running a cocktail bar and working as a consultant. Karen's skills were in government policy so it's fair to say that Karen was onto the notion of "pivoting" long before it took on the mainstream use of the term that we see today.

As you will learn from this episode of the Distillers’ Voice, the term 'pivot' barely describes the journey Gavin and Karen have experienced.

Upon moving to their newly acquired property - Stony Creek Farm - in Bega, North of Eden, they learnt they'd bought a bed and breakfast.

And there were chickens. And cattle. And a vast array of fresh produce to consider.

Karen was a townie, now embracing the charms of rural New South Wales, where delegating out tedious tasks was replaced a need to master the mundane.

This occupied their energies for the best part of a year, curtailing their efforts to build the distillery.

Yet somewhere amongst all of that, they decided to shut down the bed and breakfast, commission their first still, release their first gin (an IWSC medallist no less) and built Australia's first gin school

This year alone, they’ve been led a merry dance by forces as diverse as bushfires, flood and THAT pandemic gripping the world. They describe this 'merry dance' clearly and succinctly, capturing the ethos, spirit, and courage they bring to their multi-award-winning gin portfolio and the contributions they've made to the Australian Craft Gin narrative.

They throw in their 5 tips for starting a gin business too, from perspectives that are as unique as they are compelling.

So, sit back, relax and enjoy some cracking yarns from two of Australia's finest up and coming distillers. And while you’re there, commit The Classic, The Connoisseur and The Admiral to memory as ‘must have’ gins when you find yourself in this part of the world.

Be Bold, Enjoy Yourself. Let's create the next gin narrative.

Still Magic paperback, digital and audio copies available from your favourite online stores

https://www.amazon.com/Still-Magic-distillers-guide-beginners-ebook/dp/B07QZ4VFRV/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=still+magic&qid=1596545333&sr=8-1

Host: Marcel Thompson

@stillmagicway

Guest contributors: Gavin

Hughes & Karen Touchie

https://www.northofeden.com.au/, @stonycreekfarmdistillery

Voiceovers: @antipodeanharpie

Editor: @alexiepigot, [e-mail]. https://alexiepigot.com