A hidden gem has opened in Noosa’s industrial bar scene as Seabourne Distillery was given the green light to bring their distillery bar to life.
Tucked amongst the creative spaces of Rene Street, Noosaville, they’ve been distilling gin, and racking up global awards, since early 2020, yet they’ve been unable to open their doors to the public… until now.
After almost two years’ working with the Noosa Council, Seabourne’s bar has been given the tick of approval.
“It was great to finally have the support of Mayor Clare Stewart, Leo Jensen and the Noosa Councillors,“ Seabourne’s founder and long-time Noosa local Hayden Weir said.
“Our venue has the ability to push the limitations of a what’s possible in a cocktail as we’re able to work with our master distiller to create our own exceptional spirits.“
He has partnered with his mates, who are a couple of familiar local faces, to open and run the distillery’s bar program.
Dylan and Duncan Campbell, whom you might recognise as hospitality veterans of Noosa, have taken the reins to showcase Seabourne’s award-winning spirits using seasonal and local ingredients, modern techniques, and native Australian botanicals.
“I grew up with Dylan and Duncan, and as early supporters of Seabourne, we often caught up to throw around ideas for the brand. The stars aligned late last year to bring them on as partners and we jumped at the opportunity,” Hayden said.
The bar leverages the distilling expertise of Thiago Lopes, Seabourne’s master distiller, with the opening menu featuring cocktails that use single distillates of sea parsley, bush tomatoes, native river mint and maarr (native lemongrass).
In addition to native botanicals, the bar is focused on sourcing locally.
“Our town has an abundance of great producers and creatives, so it makes sense to think local when it comes to supply and partnerships. For example, we partnered with our friends at Entity coffee (Sunshine Beach) on a Cold Brew and Wattleseed liqueur for a cocktail on the opening menu,” Dylan said.
“The liqueur is so good by itself that we’re already talking about it being the first release for a distillery-exclusive bottling.”
Armed with a Artisanal license, Seabourne is restricted in what they can sell over the bar.
“It’s an interesting challenge with the Artisanal license as we need to produce everything we sell. On one hand, it’s restrictive, and on the other, it’s been amazing to work with Thiago to expand what we produce to include barrel-aged gins, liqueurs, amaros and bitters,” Duncan said.
“With the distillery predominantly focused on gin, we’ve challenged ourselves to innovate on the drinks list to ensure that we can satisfy guests that aren’t necessarily keen on gin. For the whisky drinkers, we’ve created CHERRY, an Old Fashioned-style drink with Coastal Dry gin, cherries, toasted coconut and cacao. For the craft beer drinkers, PEACH, a refreshing take on a sour beer with Pacific gin, peaches, mosaic hops, verjuice and local lemons.”
The cocktail menu features two sections – SEASONAL and STAPLE – with the former focused on fresh seasonal produce and the latter on classic cocktails done with a Seabourne twist.
The menu will change regularly, using abundant local produce in drinks that suit the season.
In terms of service, “you’ll see Dylan’s signature charm at the fore. I’ll bear the brunt of the work, Dylan will look good,” laughs Duncan.
“We take drinks seriously, but not ourselves, so you can expect unpretentious service, tasty drinks, a bit of banter, and plenty of laughs.”
Pull up a chair amongst the copper pot stills during the bar open hours – Friday 4-8pm, Saturday and Sunday 12-8pm.
For more information on Seabourne Distillery, visit seabournedistillery.com.au or email hayden.weir@seabournedistillery.com.au / bar@seabournedistillery.com.au
