Storytellers Distillery offers a spirit experience with a difference in Adelaide Arcade.

With every product that Storytellers Distillery makes, a story goes behind it.

Head distiller Lachlan Gunner says it’s to have a point of difference within the gin distillery community.

“We knew from the start it was going to be competitive, and you need to stand out [because there’s] so many brands out there. Well, to have a good brand, you need to have a story, right?” he says.

“We wanted to continuously tell different stories, so we called ourselves Storytellers Distillery and held ourselves accountable to that.

“Each of our product mainline releases, they all tell a different story.”

This is particularly relevant for ‘Volume 1: Australian Dry Gin’, infused with Tableland strawberry gum and native botanicals.

“This is our story, so it’s a little bit of a cheat for the first volume,” Lachlan says.

“We wanted to tie in a lot of what is traditional storytelling and the part of human nature into what we have as a bounty in our country, in particular, our state as well.”

Storytelling is an integral part of drinking gin, or any form of alcohol for that matter — particularly on a Sunday morning. Lachlan recognises this and wanted to play into that aspect too.

“It has a lot to do with people being around each other,” Lachlan says.

“You can start drawing tangents between that and also having a glass of wine or a beer… and the social aspects that are surrounded when having a drink, as well.

“So, when it came to spirits, a lot of my experience has been telling stories over a glass.”

Volume 1 on display

The process of creating gin, in Storytellers’ case, is experimental.

Lachlan says this is an opportunity to be creative with flavour profiles and see what works with what.

“There’s a lot of literature out there as well. The Flavor Bible is a good example of a book that essentially, [you] can find a flavour in it and it helps list out things that might work well with it — things you wouldn’t usually have thought of,” he says.

“Essentially, it’s just a lot of fun. A lot of [research and development], a lot of trial and error as well. And that’s the fun part: trying different things tasting and see how they go.

“Things you might like, your best friend or your parents or your partner might not necessarily like, so it’s great to show people as well.”

When CityMag asks what for the most unusual flavour combination tested is, Lachlan says: “I can instantly answer that – we made a margarita pizza spirit.”

“Technically, it’s pretty easy. You just buy a margarita pizza, right? Which we did from a local woodfired pizza place where we used to be in Brompton. We took the crust off, rolled out the pizza, put it inside the gin basket.”

Lachlan admits the Storytellers team “didn’t have high hopes”, but was pleasantly surprised with the gin that was crafted.

“We thought it was just going to be ‘oh yeah, that was fun. Let’s throw it out and try something new’” Lachlan says.

“Except the wood fire smoke that came through [had] a really nice savoury vegetable component [which] really balanced out and actually worked really well.”

Last month, Storytellers Distillery opened a retail space in the Adelaide Arcade, which is a Renew Adelaide space, titled the Museum of Storytelling.

“So first and foremost, it’s a gin shop. Everything’s very simple and very laser-focused in terms of gin,” Lachlan says.

“What we’re trying to do differently than other retail spots is provide a bit more of an experience.

“We’ve got something that’s interactive in the sense of gin, so we can offer tastings as well, which a lot of other retailers can’t do, so when you walk in, you’re greeted in a very hospitality style fashion [and] shown around the museum.”

The walls are stark white to highlight the colourful branding of the products, with each volume of gin having its own stand and museum-like descriptions.

Exclusive to the Museum of Storytelling will be, what Lachlan calls, “collections” of gin.

In these collections, onlookers can purchase a basket of locally produced products that “elevate the gin even more”.

In the Fwah! Grass! Gin collection, Lachlan explains there is Mischief Brew ginger ale, Leatherwood Pure Tasmanian honey, Jar Nice table pickles and dehydrated pineapple garnish.

The Museum of Storytelling is located at Shop 19, Adelaide Arcade, Adelaide and is open from Monday to Thursday from 10am until 6pm, Friday from 10am until 9pm and Saturday from 10am until 5pm.

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