Cameron Burns, Operations Manager at Earp Distilling Co., has spent a good portion of his career loving life in the hospitality industry. But it wasn’t until his mate’s dad floated the idea of a gin distillery that Cameron really started to think about where the products behind the bar come from.

I was born and bred right here in Newcastle. Sure, I’ve lived around the world a little and worked in some brilliant hospitality venues, but this is home. It’s such a beautiful city with breathtaking beaches, an airport 20 minutes away and country town vibes. That combination’s hard to beat.

I’ve worked in hospitality here for close to 20 years, the past five of that’s been with Earp. The name probably rings a bell – the Earp family has been in business since 1883, that’s 140 years this year. Their story begins on board the cargo ship SS Coniston as it steamed into King George’s Sound, over in Western Australia. George Frederick Earp was following doctor’s orders when he left London in search of the warmer Aussie climate. They settled in Newcastle, where George quickly established himself as an import merchant – he was originally bringing in vinegar, dried milk, pickles and matches.

The tile industry was the next big move, that’s been the main part of the business for the past 50-60 years. To this day, six generations continue to work in the family business and it’s an incredible honour to be a part of it.

I came into the mix because I was good friends with Michael’s son – Michael and Richard are the directors and owners. They’ve grown Earp Bros tiles countrywide and are the only green certified tile company in Australia.

I’d been working in hospitality, bars and restaurants for the past 15 years, so for me, selling alcohol was just a product for a customer – but Michael changed my perspective on the whole thing. He found the process of creating alcohol intriguing. He wanted to understand where it came from, how it was made and, before long, I did too.

Michael started doing some research on distilleries and saw a gap in the market for one right here in Newcastle. In the beginning, he asked me if I wanted to start something small. Obviously I was keen, so Michael, Richard, Andy (the three Earps!) and I travelled to Tassie for a weeklong distilling course. We came home with a fire in our belly and ended up buying a 5000-litre still.

Now, just so you know, that kind of still can produce over 4000 bottles of gin overnight. So we dived right in and decided we might as well kick-off with something big.

It was the right call, because Earp Distilling Co. grew dramatically in the first year. Recipe testing started in the Earp Bros boardroom – we had a small still there and would do trial runs of gin, whiskey and rum. The whole tile team would be asking what we were making that week! Meanwhile, we were planning the design of the distillery itself, and ultimately opened doors in December 2019.

How did it feel? Fun – it was a really fun journey, learning a new trade and growing that understanding of how to make and produce alcohol. While we were learning on the fly, our number one goal hasn’t changed. We want people to come to our distillery for an experience, a great meal and walk away with the knowledge of why the spirit tastes the way it does… and a smile on their face.

We also wanted them to actually see the process too. So when you walk into the distillery, you’ll see this huge glass window showcasing our entire production process. That means you can sit at the bar, listen to some music, enjoy a gin and tonic and watch the people making that spirit right in front of your eyes. That’s always been a really important part of our vision. We don’t want our guests to feel like they’re just drinking another gin, whiskey or rum, we want to break down that wall between the creating and tasting side of the product and offer a deeper, more rounded experience.

Another way we’re doing that is through our gin school. That’s taking it to the next level right?! We have a lab set up with smaller stills, tables and a blackboard – so it genuinely feels like a classroom experience. While there, you’re doing all the cuts, all the blending, all the marrying of the water – you’re doing exactly what a distiller would do. That’s unique, and people are genuinely blown away that within two hours they’ve enjoyed a great meal, a couple of drinks and have created their own bottle of gin to take home with them. The distilling process isn’t as complex as people think, it’s all about having a bit of fun and learning something new.

While our first idea was to create a tasting room with a bar, it’s grown into so much more than that. Food is a passion of mine, and being so close to the Hunter Valley we have great access to beautiful meats and produce. We want people to connect with their food in the same way they do with our spirits – and that means offering a real paddock to plate journey.

We work with a lot of local producers like Binny Beef, the best Wagyu Beef in Australia, as well as the guys out of Dawson Seafoods – serving up delicious fresh oysters, seafood and fish. Our head chef, Niah Jax, then works his magic to match their fresh produce with our products. So he could bake fish in our spirits to create a cured salmon with gin, or the dried botanicals could be cooked around the fish too. He also uses our limoncello to deliver the perfect desserts to round off a meal, such as a limoncello sorbet or lemon meringue. The lemons used in that spirit also come from lemons grown on a family farm on the Central Coast – they’re handpicked, hand peeled and the final limoncello product is handmade. So in that product alone, we’ve captured that full roundabout of fresh produce from the farm, to the still, to the bottle and the plate.

That’s the stuff that excites me. It excites Niah and the bartenders too. And that’s crucial. Because if you have that excitement and passion about producing something great, you can see that on the plate.

I always tell all my staff, imagine there’s a big sign above the distillery door that says: ‘guests enter as guests, but they should feel like they’re leaving as family’. Because home is where you have the best meal – so make people feel like this is home. They’re here to have a special meal, an incredible experience and, hopefully, come back another time soon.

We want to be a world-class distillery, so you’ve got to have that love for your customers. Without them, you have nothing. Together, our team wants to give people a magical journey of food, flavour, taste and spirits – that’s our goal this year. To give everyone a great experience and have some fun while we’re doing it.

Sanitiser throwback

When COVID-19 hit, the distillery swiftly shut – but the Earp team knew sanitiser was crucial to keeping their tile showrooms open. Here, Cameron shares his memory on how they pivoted from gin to sanitiser, fast.

It feels like a lifetime ago, but when it all kicked off we started producing sanitiser about two to three weeks before anyone else. It went crazy. We had 24-hour security guards on the front door and lines of people literally three blocks down the road queuing for sanitiser.

We’d opened doors on the distillery on 19 December – Michael’s dream was coming true, we were busy, pumping out food, drinks and good times. Then bang, COVID-19 hits, we stopped full distilling production and turned into a 24-hour sanitiser production company almost overnight.

We supplied sanitiser to Australia Post, Woolworths and Aldi across the country. We also donated a lot. It’s a family business and it’s about supporting the community, so we made a conscious choice to donate to hospitals and schools to help keep their doors open.

It was challenging and very stressful – there were some long days. But it gave us the opportunity to give back, keep operating and now, we’re looking forward to a few years with no interruptions!

Fancy a tipple? Earp Distilling Co. is waiting.

41 Darling Street | Carrington NSW 2294 | (02) 8317 5777 | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Monday to Wednesday 12.00pm–5.00pm | Friday 12.00pm–12.00am | Saturday 11.00am–12.00am | Sunday 12.00pm–5.00pm