WHEN Stuart Silvester was looking to ward off malaria in the jungles of Cambodia about 30 years ago, little could he have known that the “medicine” he chose would lead to an innovative new business in Portland in 2021.

But how else to describe Neart Tide Distillery, a new venture by Mr Silvester and his wife Amy, brewing gin from premises in Kalina Ct?

The Portland couple have spent some time preparing for the moment the doors opened recently, even collecting the city’s special rainwater, and got planning approval a few months ago.

They recently showed the Observer through the distillery.

“I think we’re the first legal distillery in Portland,” Mr Silvester said.

It takes the term locally made to another level.

Let’s start with the alcohol that Neart Tide’s three flavours of gin are made from.

“We make our own from scratch,” Mr Silvester said.

“It’s made from rainwater from off the ocean.

“The water’s always been an issue and it’s very hard to make alcohol or the wash with groundwater.

“We bring in all the rainwater (which they collect) and don’t use any town water or other rainwater (there was a brief experiment with Casterton rainwater which was abandoned).”

The salt content makes it perfect for the “wash” and after being put through the still pictured it comes out as “neutral” (effectively vodka).

The alcohol content of that ranges from 40 per cent to 95 per cent.

It is then held in large barrels in the bond store (also pictured) where it is weighed and measured in line with federal government requirements (this isn’t moonshine, after all) before it is run through the still again to make one of three flavours.

One of these is Nobleman, a classic London gin using juniper, coriander and a little green cardamom.

“It makes a fantastic dry martini,” Mr Silvester said.

The second is Vida, named after pioneering Portland-born suffragette Vida Goldstein, which has citrus added.

“It’s smooth and we made it smooth by using local botanicals,” Mr Silvester said.

The third flavour is The Reg.

The name stands for the King – like Nobleman which has a greyhound logo fitting the animal of the nobility, Vida standing for a strong woman and the name Neart itself (an Irish word for strength) you get the picture of what the distillery is trying to project.

“The Reg has a much more bold taste,” Mr Silvester said.

Well-themed for Christmas too – the botanicals in this case mirror the Three Wise Men, being cassia bark, star anise and angelica root to give it a spicy finish.

“It takes a couple of days to a week for all the flavours to really mesh together,” Mr Silvester said.

The blend is at 19-20 degrees, a low temperature, to enable that to happen.

And not only is the gin locally made, everything used is recyclable and/or compostable.

Enabling the distillery to happen is a story in itself.

“It’s been a long road but we’re finally here with a few hitches along the way,” Mrs Silvester said.

“But it’s better late than never.”

It actually began in 1992 when Mr Silvester was serving with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia in 1992, overseeing that war-ravaged country’s transition to peace.

Living in a remote village, he was faced with a choice.

“The beer was terrible and I wanted something to keep the malaria away,” he said.

“So I started drinking gin.”

Gin and tonic was a popular way to do that, dating back a long time – tonic water contains quinine, the ingredient that gives that popular mixer its bitter taste as well as being the key compound in the treatment of malaria until recent times (when it was replaced with the even more effective artemisinin).

Having said that, the amount of quinine in tonic water isn’t enough to give it the same effect as an anti-malaria drug.

Anyway, the story took a pause until about four years ago when the Silvesters decided to make their own – and they hope it’s the beginning of a trend.

“People are crying out for something unique and this town’s jumping with people coming here from beyond Warrnambool,” Mr Silvester said.

Mrs Silvester said she hoped the distillery would start a trend among other locals looking to do something similar.

“It’s a good thing for the town,” she said.

“The more we can promote the region and support someone else who’s looking to start something up, the better.

“The more we’ve got, the more reasons there are to come to the town, it makes it more appealing.”

The distillery has begun tasting sessions.

“The idea is it’ll be a tasting panel, one of each gin and a selection of things to taste it with,” Mrs Silvester said.

“We’ve tried it with lots of different things and we’ve got the combinations that we like it with, and there’s always the traditional things like lime and lemon.”

For more information visit nearttidedistillery.com.