Having your friends make gin is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because, of course, you get to support their endeavours, and be a tiny wee part of a story. The curse is every time you drink something else, you feel like you are cheating. I don't mind being unfaithful, given the amount of mother's ruin I consume.
Great Ocean Road Gin is based in Airey's Inlet, on the Great Ocean Road of course. A busy hamlet between Anglesea and Lorne, it's a great spot to live.. which bring us to Ann and Chris. They made the sea change in 2017 to give their kids the growing up experience they had - beaches, surf and a slower lifestyle. Luckily for us, it was a great decision and in 2018 they released the first of their gins, the Guvvo's named for the nearby Guvvos beach. Then came the many gins which followed, and our focus is on the Grapefruit Cello - a grapefruit based gin which is a go to on the Scoffing bench.
This is a pleasantly bitter gin, thanks to the addition of white grapefruit peel. The nose melds the grapefruit with honey and ginger, and it's terrifically bright and fresh, with a toasty note as well. While it is fine to sip over some crushed ice, one needs to keep one's self nice and so, a good splash of Fever Tree Mediterranean tonic is a great match, with a slice of ruby red grapefruit for good measure (we found the yellow grapefruit just a tad too bitter).
The range extends to another of our favourites, a raspberry gin made from local heritage breed raspberries from nearby Bannockburn on a classic gin. Raspberries are my favourite of the berries and so this gin is right up my alley. It lifts my skirt! The raspberry punch doesn't detract at all from the native botanicals in the gin, and over ice or with a splash of soda or sparkling wine poured over the top...perfection.
The gin garden is a great place to sit and sip, have a few nibbles and while away an afternoon along the most famous of surf coasts. Really, why wouldn't you?
RRP $60 online or catch them at a farmers market
VIC | Geelong | 500ml | 40% ABV