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Discover
A journey through the seasons:

Gins Like No Other

Seven Seasons gins are no ordinary beverages. Other gins have brought nuance and romance to their botanical miscellany by adding native Australian ingredients, but Seven Seasons gins are the real deal, both owned by and made with produce harvested by Indigenous Australian communities using sustainable practices perfected over millennia. This is authentic, fair, not to mention ridiculously tasty, liquor.

Introduction

“Larrakia is one country within Australia, my grandmother’s country, so what I’ve done with the company is set it up around the seven seasons that we Larrakia live by,” says founder Daniel Motlop, the former AFL player from Darwin. “Whether it be magpie goose, kangaroo or barramundi, we hunt in seasons. And it’s exactly the same with the fruit. There are things that tell us we can harvest something or go out and hunt, like little flowers that pop up which mean it’s turtle season. They’re signs that we as Larrakia people have been brought up to learn.”
man crossing his arms
face painted man
Daniel Motlop

“In Gurrulwa, which is the Big Wind Time, that’s when we go out and harvest green ants,” Motlop says, referring to the August/September season in Larrakia Country around Darwin. “All things are done in these seasons for sustainability. If we harvest them outside those times, then you’re harvesting around the Queen ants and the babies.”

waterfall

Sustainable Harvesting

Seven Seasons have come up with an ingenious method of harvesting the green ants sustainably. After collecting the nest, they immediately chill it, so the ants stay put. Removing it from the chiller, the ants wake up and venture out directly into a freezer, while the larvae and Queen stay within the nest, safe as houses. Afterwards, the nest is put back, to thrive once again.

Green Ant Gin bottle

Motlop uses the green ants to flavour Seven Season’s Green Ant Gin, and it’s a taste that needs to be imbibed to be believed. With their zesty, makrut-lime-like flavour, it’s actually a wonder no-one’s ever thought of throwing green ants into gin, where a citrus garnish is a necessity, before.

Pasan Wijesena, owner and bartender at Sydney’s Earl’s Juke Joint and Jacoby’s Tiki Bar describes it as, “a tropical explosion. Fresh and herbaceous. All citrus, lemongrass with a peppery bite that makes it perfect for mixing with. It’s a cracking gin for a Martini.” The flavour alone, for Wijesena, sends him up to the NT, “It really reminds me, in the best way, of a food market in Darwin,” he says.

As part of his Indigenous food company, Something Wild, which supplies Seven Seasons with its produce, Motlop had struggled to get a decent uptake of native bush apples in restaurants. But used in his Bush Apple Gin, the inherent sourness of the fruit works beautifully. Harvested around December in Larrakia Country during Rainy Season (Balnba)/Monsoon Season (Dalay), Wijesena describes it as, “crisp and refreshing with berry qualities and spicy orange blossom, balanced with the juniper you expect in a gin.”

Pasan Wijesena, owner and bartender at Sydney’s Earl’s Juke Joint and Jacoby’s Tiki Bar describes it as, “a tropical explosion. Fresh and herbaceous. All citrus, lemongrass with a peppery bite that makes it perfect for mixing with. It’s a cracking gin for a Martini.” The flavour alone, for Wijesena, sends him up to the NT, “It really reminds me, in the best way, of a food market in Darwin,” he says.

Gin bottle and glasses
man with bottles

Family at its core

The spirits taste amazing (look out for their soon-to-launch Native Yam Vodka, too, which boasts “earthy, coconutty” notes, according to Motlop) but Seven Seasons isn’t only about delicious drinks. “My whole company, it’s not just about the spirits; it’s about learning our culture,” explains Motlop.

What sets them apart is their authenticity, “We buy three tonnes of native ingredients for just our spirits,” he says. “Whereas some other companies only use one or two kilos and say it’s a native spirit – and really, is it?” Ingredients get shipped down from Larrakia Country in the Top End to the South Australian distillery where the gin is produced. Seven Seasons both employs and is run by Indigenous Australian people, and so the precious harvesting skills honed by them over thousands of years are rewarded fairly (this has not always been the case in the native food industry). “There’s plenty of money in it for everyone,” says Motlop. “It’s more than just money – it’s my family and my culture.”

As for what to eat with these gins, Wijesena suggests going all out, flavour-wise, “Both of these gins would pair really well with spicy food like Thai or Szechuan,” he says. “Alternatively, they are also perfect for pairing with richer, more hearty dishes such as cacio e pepe, or any cheesy pasta, or a flame grilled steak or portobello mushroom.”

The importance of Seven Seasons from a cultural perspective isn’t lost on Wijesena, “The focus on Indigenous ingredients is great but so is the commitment to sustainability, and the support of Indigenous business all the way through the supply chain, from farm to bottle,” he says.

Tasting their products is also a lesson in a cuisine we should all really know more about, “it’s educational. I think people don’t realise how tasty Aboriginal cuisine is,” says Wijesena. “Some of the world’s oldest farming practices, advocations of seasonality and sustainability are being showcased here.”

Bush Apple Gin and glasses

Pasan’s
cocktail hit list:


Bush Apple Gin Sour

INGREDIENTS

60ml Seven Seasons Bush Apple Gin
30ml Lemon juice
20ml Agave syrup or honey
Dash of Angostura Bitters
(if you have it on hand)

METHOD

Half-fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then pour all your ingredients into it, shake it up, then strain into a glass of your choice (coupes look gorgeous and feel fancy, but any small glass should work). Garnish with a twist of lemon, if you like.

Pasan’s extra titbits

For Wijesena, going back to basics with gin is the way he likes it best, “I like to keep it simple in a highball (with tonic or soda) or in a Negroni or Sour,” he says. “The Green Ant Gin makes a great Martini, and the Bush Apple is cracking in a Negroni [pour equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari over ice in a glass, stir and serve]. Both are also well suited to Spritzes – just add a little prosecco and a touch of something sweet and you’re laughing.”

Pasan Wijesena
Pasan Wijesena