Spirit of Subi

A new gin distillery is aiming to shake up the bar scene in Subiaco. Gail Williams meets the owners of the Spirit of Little Things.

Spirit of Subi

DISTILLED TO THRILL Subiaco's new gin distillery, Spirit of Little Things, has been launched by Tom Martin, Mick Seah and Josh Kruger opposite the Daglish train station. TOM MARTIN WAS on the train recently when he overheard two hipsters animatedly discussing Subiaco’s new gin distillery.

“That’s just what the suburb needs,” said one.

“Yeah,” said the other. “A local bar we can walk to and have a gin, beer or an organic wine, casual shared plates and maybe some live music. I heard there’ll be classes on gin making and food pairing as well.”

Martin, a self taught master distiller, couldn’t contain himself.

“That’s MY distillery,” he proudly interrupted.

Well, actually the Spirit of Little Things distillery on Railway Road – opposite the Daglish Railway Station – is the brainchild of Martin and two of his best mates – Mick Seah and Josh Kruger. They all play a vital role in the small batch gin with a uniquely Australian flavour that has been making a BIG name for itself since hitting the market in 2019.

Devotees – and there are many of them – describe the gin as the

essence of our sunburnt country – with its native lemon myrtle, thyme and river mint. The end result is bottled into four different gins – Australian Dry, Australian Botanical, Navy Strength and Tempranillo.

And now up to 50 punters at a time will be able to enjoy that taste of Aussie in a glass right on the spot where it’s made by Martin in an old converted warehouse in a decidedly unassuming location.

Martin, who runs his own business consultancy as well as overseeing the gin making, using an organic wheat mash and pure filtered spring water, is realising a 20-year dream.

“I started out brewing two decades ago,” he says. “Then I got into making gin with a one-litre still at home. The first batch I made, I poured down the sink. It’s really trial and error. But it kept getting better and I began trying it out on my friends. We decided to launch the company when we were doing blind gin tastings and my gin kept getting ranked the best over Four Pillars, Archie Rose and Giniversity.”

Little Things is now on drinks lists at trendy Perth bars including The Flour Factory, Varnish on King, Subiaco Hotel, Petition Kitchen and Pep’s Wine Bar and is stocked by Dan Murphy’s, BWS and Vintage Cellars.

It’s not surprising the three mates often toast to their success with a well-earned Australian Dry and Fever Tree Aromatic tonic, garnished with a twist of citrus of course. They’re also partial to negronis and martinis which will be on the blackboard menu.

But the real star of the show is the venue’s centrepiece – the shiny copper 600-litre still, which was made in Australia, cost $70,000 and took a whole year to arrive.

The trio didn’t mind. They had plenty of work to do scrubbing up the dusty old joint which had been disused for years – polishing the concrete floor, building the bar, making wooden benches, putting in steel benches and a leather lounge, pendant lights and bar shelves to create a warm yet inner city industrial feel.

Says Martin: “We were thrilled to find this place as we had looked at others in West Leederville and in the main hub of Subiaco. This place was like a blank canvas, a bit quirky. And it has an industrial feel without actually being in an industrial area. We needed a space where you could have pallets delivered and 1,000-litre containers. With no dedicated kitchen, food offerings will be casual – charcuterie, olives, toasties and jaffles.

Along with master classes on gin making, there will be tasting sessions and live music. And they hope other like-minded distillers will follow their lead and move into the area to create a gin hub which could form a walking/ tasting route.

And we’re pretty sure those train-riding gin fans would be among the first to sign up for that one. Open 4pm till 10pm Wednesday to Sunday 205a Railway Road, Subiaco.

MARTIN'S Spring Tom Collins

60 ml Little Things Botanical gin 30 ml fresh orange juice 15 ml sugar syrup Sparkling mineral water 1 egg white (or protein replacement)

Shake all ingredients apart from the mineral water with plenty of ice. Strain into a glass. Top up with sparkling mineral water. Serve with a dehydrated orange slice on top (or a glace cherry if you're posh).

m C o l i n s Sp r i n g T o

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BOUTIQUE: 391 Hay Street, Subiaco (08) 9380 9230

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