A former firefighter turned award-winning distiller is enjoying the taste of success after opening his “cosy” gin and pizza venue.
Jamie Jones described his distillery as a “hidden gem” serving up quality gin you can’t get anywhere else.
Tucked away in Landsborough’s industrial estate, the Rare Orchid Distilling Company is making a name for itself after winning a prestigious gin award before it was even open for business.
Spending most of his career as a firefighter based in Sydney, Mr Jones and his family moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2019.
It was just prior to the pandemic when Mr Jones decided to hang up the firefighting boots in search of his next challenge.
Mr Jones told Sunshine Coast News he had always enjoyed visiting distilleries, and the occasional gin and tonic, so thought he would “give it a go”.
He completed the relevant certificates in distilling and honed his gin-making skills to make his product ready for customers.
“We are small batch, we don’t do a lot, but what we do we do with absolute attention to detail and quality,” Mr Jones said.
“It’s a handmade product and you can’t get this anywhere else.
“A lot of work and talent has gone into it.”
The gin is available to purchase at the Rare Orchid’s Landsborough site, which doubles as an artisan pizza venue.
“On Fridays and Saturdays we take bookings and we serve homemade artisan pizza and gin tastings of our two award-winning gins,” Mr Jones said.
“We are fully licensed, so we offer a nice pizza menu with an opportunity to wash it down with a beer, wine or soft drink.
“It’s quite boutique and very cosy. It’s very different to what Landsborough offers but we are hidden, so if you don’t know we’re here you’ll miss out.
“This is the only place you can buy the gin. We are not in any bottle shops or pubs.”
The company’s Still Working gin was named best classic dry gin in Queensland at the 2024 Australian Gin Awards last month, while its List of Two Doos scored silver in the contemporary gin category.
Mr Jones said he was “absolutely amazed and humbled” to have picked up these awards.
“We’d been creating this distillery for quite a while, and we had all our licences in place and we were getting really close to opening and we saw the awards were coming up,” he said.
“We thought, let’s just have a go.
“We entered it and took a chance. We really wanted to see where we were compared to everyone else and get some feedback from the experts.
“We are really proud of our achievements. Best classic dry gin in Queensland – what a start.”
Mr Jones said the family-run distillery was working to release two more gins soon and hoped to make Landsborough residents proud of this homegrown success.
“We are trying to be a little bit different, we don’t need to be the same as everyone else,” Mr Jones said.
“We want to keep doing what we are doing. I want to produce excellent products and get them out there.
“I want to make something that the people love, the local people can say it’s based in Landsborough.
“There are so many great distilleries on the Sunshine Coast and we are excited to be joining their ranks.”
The Rare Orchid Distilling Company is located at 7/35 Lenco Crescent, Landsborough, and is open every Friday and Saturday from noon-7pm.
It is also open on Wednesday and Thursday from 7-10am for coffee.
Mr Jones said tables were limited and bookings were advised on 0477 219 144.
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