Gin and bear it

Stone Pine Distillery is about five minutes from Bathurst’s bustling CBD and there you will find Ian and Bev Glen. Both expat Scots they established the distillery four years ago and now make a range of spirits and liqueurs. The gin is my favourite; in addition to the requisite juniper berries, Ian and Bev also use (mostly) locally sourced native aromatics (finger line, lemon myrtle, wattle seed, river mint and iron bark) to make this dry gin and it’s really good. I should know. I tried it with some tonic, ice and lemon at 7pm on the dot that night. And again at 7.15pm.


As well as the classic gin and tonic, we also tried Ian’s gin in this beautiful trifle. It’s one of the easiest desserts you could imagine and really does showcase the spirit’s flavours quite well. Just a warning though; don’t have seconds if you plan on driving home.

Gin and ruby red grapefruit ‘trifle’

Serves 4

4 slices madiera cake (store bought or home made – here’s my recipe)
6 tbsp Stone Pine Gin
3/4 cup cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp almonds
1 ruby red grapefruit, segmented

Slice the cake and place it on a nice platter. Sprinkle over the gin and let sit for a little while. Whip the cream until nice and floppy. Pour the sugar into a saucepan over medium high heat. Line a tray with baking paper and scatter it with the almonds. Swirl the sugar around until it melts and turns into a lovely golden syrup. Once all the sugar is dissolved pour over the almonds, swirling until you have a large disc of toffee. Let set and then break into shards. Spoon the cream over your cake, top with the grapefruit segments and almond toffee and serve.