Move over gin, there's a a rum revolution underway overseas and New Zealand is just about to catch the wave, a Taranaki distiller says.
Janet Charteris set up LWF Distilling two years ago, producing delicately tinted rum in elegant bottles, in a large shed on the family orchard near the coast, at Oakura.
With a plentiful supply of rainwater and trees laden with feijoas and limes, the shed just needed converting, a shiny Chinese-made still installed and a bar built so she could conduct tastings for tour groups.
Janet had been working as a food marketer in the supermarket sector overseas and was adept at tapping into the way consumers think, although she was finding it increasingly hard to get shoppers to spend another dollar.
A plan was hatched for her own venture including visiting every craft distillery she could in Australia and completing a course in brewing and distilling.
Overseas data showed that bourbon, tequila and rum were the next big waves coming, she said.
Rules of origin meant tequila was too difficult and "for me, bourbon's heart is in America, whereas rum, because of the pirates and the loose history, I figured I could do something with it."
She said unlike whiskey's "really tight rules", rum had only two - it needs to be made out of sugar cane and gold or dark rum needs to be aged in barrels for at least two years.
Janet brings a New Zealand "skew" to the liquor, by flavouring it with feijoas, limes and rhubarb, grown on the orchard.
"It's not rule-bound so I can do some fun stuff with it and create my own niche within the market."
Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
