A fittingly small distillery located in the Melbourne suburb of Knoxfield, Tiny Bear was founded by Damien Anderson and his wife Amanda. A former high school chemistry teacher, Damien was very familiar with the techniques and methods required to produce delicious spirits. 

The Andersons went all-in, selling their home to finance the distillery. Unlike many gin-makers, Tiny Bear produce their own base spirit – a costly and time-consuming process, but one that gives them total control over the quality of their gin. No strangers to experimental expressions, Tiny Bear begin this bottling with a “kale wine”: a fermented mixture of sugar, yeast and kale, that they then distil in their Ballarat-made column still to produce a high proof neutral spirit. 

This spirit is then distilled a second time, with the basket of chosen botanicals (in this case an array of herbs, juniper, spices and hibiscus) added to “vapour-infuse” flavours. 

Why the name Tiny Bear? Well, the first part is self-evident: the distillery is very small. “Bear” is because Damien is said to resemble one, though there is also apparently another meaning you’ll only discover if you visit the distillery and ask…