Sam Bygrave

Editor, Australian Bartender

Sam Bygrave is the editor of Australian Bartender.

Cape Byron Distillery’s Eddie Brook on making the family farm a distillery, & the legendary Jim McEwan

Cape Byron Distillery is owned by the Brook family, and world renowned master distiller, Jim McEwan, whom you may know from any number of award-winning whiskies and from the creation of The Botanist Gin. The distillery is set on the Brook family farm in the hinterland of Byron Bay, and they’re making gin with a sense of place.

The Gin Basil Smash.

The Gin Basil Smash: often the simplest ideas are the best

Created by Joerg Meyer in 2008 from the Hamburg bar, Le Lion, the Gin Basil Smash has spread around the world. It’s classic in its dimensions, with the basil being the one thing updating the drink to the modern age.