MEDIA RELEASE – FOSSEY’S DISTILLERY WINS NINE MEDALS

9 awards for fossey's gin in 2021 with black background & 9 medals

Media Release - Fossey's Distillery wins NINE MEDALS

9 awards for fossey's gin in 2021 with black background & 9 medals
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On Friday October 1st The Australian Gin Awards released the results of their 2021 competition with Mildura’s very own Fossey’s Distillery bringing home 9 medals, including two GOLD MEDALS for their Navel Strength Gin and Navel Strength Gin Barrel Aged in Chardonnay.

Owner of Fossey’s Distillery Steve Timmis is absolutely thrilled with this year’s results.

“It’s amazing that this competition was able to go ahead at all this year. With ongoing border and lockdown issues and product coming in from all around Australia, and back out again to judges who had to do their tastings and scoring remotely this year, it was quite the effort.”

The Australian Gin Awards once again saw distilleries from all across the nation enter their products in the biggest Gin awards competition in Australia.

“The Australian Spirits industry is a fantastic thing to be apart of. Every year the industry grows, evolves and gets stronger in product development, quality and of course personality. We’re all mates in the distilling field, and it’s one of the most positive and supportive industries to be a part of. There’s a lot of big players in Australia with world renowned products so to go up against them in a competition such as this is always a bit daunting.”

During the Victorian lockdowns of 2020, Fossey’s Distillery undertook a “Covid Project” developing a Barrel Aged Gin Collection by taking a range of their Gin’s and aging them for various lengths of time in different types of barrel’s.

“This was a fantastic project for our distilling team to undertake during the lockdowns last year. It was something fun to do amongst all that was going on at the time, and to walk away with awards for 3 of these in particular has been truly rewarding.”

“We always talk about our Navel Strength Gin being our pride and joy,” continued Steve “so there was no question about including it in our Barrel Aged Gin collection. We let the Gin rest on an ex Chardonnay Barrel from the Barossa Valley and what we were left with is what we describe as a ‘little glass of sunshine’. We also teamed up with local winery Chalmer’s Estate and aged our Original Gin on their Aglianico Rose´ barrel. This is also one of our favourites too and we loved collaborating with the Chalmers crew, so we were absolutely stoked to receive a bronze medal for this one.”

In addition to the two Gold medals for their Navel Strength Gin’s, Fossey’s Distillery also took home Silver Medals for their Original Gin Barrel Aged on Redgum Rum, Shiraz Gin Barrel Aged on Shiraz and Shiraz Gin, plus Bronze Medals being awarded for the Original Gin Elixir, Original Gin Barrel Aged on Aglianico Rose, Frontignac and Kaffir Leaf Gin’s as well.

Fossey’s Distillery like all hospitality and tourism venues, has been at the mercy of ongoing Covid lockdowns and restrictions for the last 18 months and have one very simple message for everyone out there.

“Buy local, and buy direct.” says Steve.

“It doesn’t have to be from us, but locally whether that be in your own town or within Australia, we are all so spoilt for choice when it comes to high quality products. And buy direct. If you can order from a restaurant directly or from a producer or makers website rather than a third party platform, trust us, it will make their day.”

Fossey’s Distillery is now open again for patrons from 2pm every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 110 Eighth Street Mildura, or purchases can be made directly from their website with shipping Australia wide.  

END RELEASE

Media Contact: Cherie Gowers 0438512336 cherie@fosseysgin.com.au

bottle of Fossey's naval strength gin with black background

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How to Make Baked Ham Like a Boss

baked ham

how to make baked ham like a boss

baked ham
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Fossey’s Baked Christmas Ham

Just before Christmas, we made something delicious. 
Our very own Fossey’s Baked Ham.
Featuring the most worthy of glazes using Navel Orange, Fossey’s Redgum Rum & our own Gin Jam, this is an absolute crowd pleaser!
 

Recipe 

Juice 1 whole orange
100ml Fossey’s Redgum Rum (possibly more
1 jar of Fossey’s Gin Jam
Mix together.
 

Method

Gently remove the ham rind.
Score the fat diagonally all fancy shamncy.
Pop ham on a rack over baking paper lined tray.
Pour over glaze mix.
Continue to baste with glaze mix every 15-20 minutes.
 
Google tells us to bake at 180 per kg, but you do you with your timing and temp.
 
Half way through your cook time (or even the beginning of it’s a smaller ham) tip over another jar of Fossey’s Gin Jam for that beautiful caramelised goodness.
 
Serve up this scrumptious ham however you like or just eat it straight from the pan like we did!
 
Enjoy!

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Fossey’s – The Original Ginporium

fossey's ginporium

Fossey's -The Original Ginporium

fossey's ginporium
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Oh how I miss it. Fossey’s – The Original Ginporium.

What a great place to hang out on a Friday night or any night for that matter, with friends at any time of the year. It’s a blessing to have such a treasure in my local town of Mildura. 

What makes Fossey’s Ginporium so amazing? 

Well to answer that I quote Darryl Kerrigan from the legendary Australian movie “The Castle” where he says “it’s just the vibe of the place” but it really is much more too.

If you don’t know the origins of the Ginporium, please allow me to enlighten you. It’s a ginteresting tale and one I think you will definitely enjoy. 

Fossey’s is family owned and operated. Fossey’s is the epitome of a boutique Distillery. 

Embracing family history, sensational local produce and exceptional story telling though the art of Gin & Whisky Swilling and Distilling, Fossey’s has truly embraced the Australian Gin, Vodka and Whisky culture. 

Fossey’s Ginporium is in one of Mildura’s most iconic and historical buildings, The Setts. It is home to Mildura’s first and only Gin Garden and Gin & Whisky Bar.

The unique back story to creating Fossey’s Ginporium:

Well the Fossey name was married into the family in the early 1900’s and as was tradition then, it was given as the middle name to the first-born son John Fossey, known to everyone as “Foss”.

A name that stood out, those who have it as their own have been of creative mind. Of pioneering spirit. Those with the name are usually proudly misunderstood!

The Fossey’s have lived by principles and ideologies that have been passed down through generations and become known as “Fosseylosophies” which we have based our Fossey’s Ginporium business principles on.

Foss’s Grandmother (who he never met) raised 6 children alone, while running a pub in Ludlow, United Kingdom. Coincidentally, this is the same area as our Fossey’s Gin Juniper berries come from.

One of her sons, Albert, migrated to Australia and married Elsie Vera. Elsie was small in stature but big in spirit nothing would faze her. She bought up 4 children (one of them Foss) in Koorlong before there were established roads and power. Elsie was always one who rolled up her sleeves and got on with the job. Growing up in the sticks, Foss thought the best things he had ever seen were running water and knives with a serrated edge.

Were these the things to ginspire big ideas and Fosseylosophies? 

Who knows? 

His execution of big ideas could be somewhat erratic at times and misguided at best, but Foss was truly an original entrepreneur.

Pioneering land (well outside Mildura) which wasn’t being used for anything else, Foss went on to create something that is still an icon of Mildura today – Timmis Speedway.

Foss and his young family farmed a property in Mourquong. Growing fresh fruit still to this day, this particular block is where our Fossey’s Original Gin Elixir bergamot oranges and tangelos are grown.

Father to our Master Ginnovator, Steve Timmis, who embodies the pioneering spirit and big ideas like his dad. Only perhaps with a slightly straighter forward strategy to implementation, the fundamentals of Fosseylosophies live on when developing something truly unique.

Ginterestingly, speaking of creating something truly unique, Foss’s great grandad Vere Quaile who was a blacksmith living in the Bacchus Marsh area, along with his son Edward, were the ones to create Ned Kelly’s armour.

So why create gin?

Well creating gin encompasses everything Fossey’s want to represent.
First class second to none products. Creative interpretation everything. Good fun, good times, good friends, good drink. Fossey’s has huge ideas conceived in a small space with crazy deadlines.


And then of course, there is family. We believe nothing is more important than family.

Fossey’s ginporium is a lasting legacy for Izzy May and Zeb Fossey (5th generation Mildura-ians). These two little ones have “fossmerized” grandfather – Steve Timmis, nana – Eddie Timmis and their mum – Cherie, into doing what they do best to create and bring to Mildura something never seen or done before.

That’s it. The tale of how Fossey’s Ginporium came into fruition. And thank the gin gods for that.

Cheers,

Narelle

Fossey’s Blogger

 

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How to Drink Whisky like an Expert

How to Drink Whisky Like an Expert

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Learning to drink whisky like an expert

STOP PRESS!

I now know how to drink whisky like an expert!

If you have been following my blog you would know that it was World Whisky Day on Saturday! This apparently is a big deal in the whisky world – who knew? I confess, I have never really cared much for whisky, thinking it was a little masculine for my liking and more suited to the John Wayne types of the world. I have always been more of a white spirit gal and saw no reason to change. But since morphing into the Ginspired Blogger Girl, it being World Whisky Day and seeing as Fossey’s DO make the best Australian whisky, I decided I should just give it a crack.

After some discussion with the head distiller, Steve Timmis, at Fossey’s, I decided I didn’t want the smoked whisky (peated) and was going to try the Single Malt Single Barrel Whisky instead. So, I purchased my whisky on Saturday evening at the walk-through shop at Fossey’s, having no real idea what to expect with the taste or if I would even like it. 

Why is Australian Whisky so expensive? 

A little note on the price, at first it felt expensive, but then I realised the process the whisky went through and just how special this Fossey’s Australian single barrel whisky actually is. That helped a lot with the price point for me. This is not your average bottlo firewater. Fossey’s is a very & unique whisky.

Whisky Drinking Instructions

Steve had given me strict instructions on how to try it because unbeknown to me, there is a process, an order, if you will, to how you try & drink whisky. (Oh my gosh…again… who knew?) His main stipulation upon trying it was not to mix it with Coke. Well in fact, his exact words were “don’t you dare mix it with Coke”. No worries there, I thought. I can’t stand Coke but surely, I could have it with soda water? I didn’t really picture myself sitting in front of the fire sipping straight whisky like I had seen many a cowboy in olden day Westerns do, whilst chewing tobacco at the same time. However, the expert assured me that mixing it with water or soda water was indeed acceptable. That made it seem much less scary that I could mix it with my “go to” mixer!

I must say I was rather excited about trying something new. I kinda felt like I was joining some sort of club with the purchase of the whisky and committing to drinking it. I followed Steve’s instructions on how to drink whisky like some sort of connoisseur, to the letter.

how to drink whisky like an expert:

1. Start slowly.

2. Have 4 or 5 big long sniffs. It has port on the nose. The first few sniffs may seem a bit harsh. But after a few you will understand the flavour.

Then:

3. Take a LITTLE sip. Very small. It will also taste a little harsh. Swill it around in your mouth. If may have a bit of an alcohol burn as you swallow it.

Then:

4. Take another small sip. Make a chewing action while the little bit is in your mouth. Then swallow it.

5. Breathe out across your tongue to understand the flavour.

Then:

6. Add a little bit of water, soda water and/or ice to your taste.

Even though, I was a little apprehensive, I followed Steve’s instructions on how to drink whisky to the letter and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. I actually liked it mixed with soda water and on ice. I felt pretty sophisticated and even a little fancy, sitting in front of the fire sipping at my single malt single barrel whisky.  

I probably had a few more than was sensible, but didn’t wake up with any nasty hangover side effects so it gets an “A” from me – just for that fact alone.

One last thing…What’s the difference between whisky and whiskey?

Great question. I had no idea either! And apparently it is a very controversial question with every whisky expert having an opinion on the difference. So I am going to leave this for a future blog because there really is that much to explore with this relatively simple question. 

Chin chin & bottoms up, whisky (and gin) lovers!

Until next time,

Whisky-spired Blogger Girl!

 

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Rose Petal Gin – The Tantalising Tale of the Best Seller

Rose Petal Gin - The Tantalising Tale of the best seller!

Rose Petal Gin - The tantalising tale of the best seller

THE BACK STORY BEHIND ROSE PETAL GIN

Since starting as the Gin-spired Blogger Girl at Fossey’s, I have learned we are more of a solution based business rather than allowing obstacles to get in the way type business. In the midst of having to temporarily close our beloved Ginporium because of COVID-19 restrictions, we not only created a completely brand new product, Fossey’s Sanitiser, to meet the shortage of it in the community (which took a lot of fast & hard work) but we also launched our annual Rose Petal Gin in time for Mother’s Day! Talk about having an impressive ability to pivot business as needed!

I have to admit, when I heard of a gin called Rose Petal….well I wasn’t that excited. I didn’t really believe that rose petals could taste any good because if they did, wouldn’t we all be eating them as we strolled past rose bushes, right? I mean, they are not exactly known as one of our staple food items! But I trust the gin-credibly talented creator, Tash & once I tasted the gorgeous elixir, I was gin-uinely impressed!

Today, I just had to share the extremely ginspiring tale how Rose Petal gin came about. As legend has it, it had been Tash’s dream to make a rose petal gin. However, the cost of the roses made the gin not very…shall we say, cost efficient? So our head distiller kinda hit the idea on the head. But thankfully Tash wouldn’t let her dream die and our manager believed there had to be a way to make the beautiful concept come to life. So she backed Tash and sourced the divine petals from Simply Rose Petals, working out a deal that would suit both businesses (no easy feat) and make the gin, not only amazing, but also financially doable! 

The process of getting the rose petals isn’t so easy. They are picked by moonlight and then it is crucial they are delivered in a very timely & precise manner, so as the petals don’t spoil. Then the rose petals are soaked in our gin to give the elixir the gorgeous colour and flavour it does. I was absolutely blown away when I realised how much effort and work went into each batch of this very special drop. I have to say I certainly looked at it with fresh eyes when I realised the process it went through. Knowing the process, turned Rose Petal Gin into some type of heavenly creation for me! 

I enjoyed Rose Petal Gin so much, that it even knocked off my favourite, Broken Heel, from its perch but I won’t go as far as to say it overtook Hot Cross Bun! However, it does come a very close second, when added with Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water. The colour it turns is just divine….it’s almost gin-describable actually. 

However, gin-terestingly, add the Rose Petal Gin to soda water for the calorie conscious among us (y’all probably know fitting into my jeans is important to me by now) and it doesn’t come up the beautiful pink/red hues it does with aforementioned tonic water. Oh, for those of you that are interested Fever Tree does make a low sugar version & this solved my problem of compromising colour for calories using soda water – happy days for my jeans!

Rose Petal Gin, as our annual limited edition, sold out in 5 hours in our pre-sale to our treasured Friend’s of Fossey’s members. Even we were a little surprised at how fast it sold! 

I will sign off here but I before I do, a little teaser, watch this space for some super exciting & absolutely ginnovating news about to hit Fossey’s! 

Bottoms up & chin chin, gin lovers!

Until next time,

Narelle

Fossey’s Gin-spired Blogger Girl

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Product in the Spotlight – Fossey’s Original Gin Elixir

Tasting paddle at Fossey's Gin
Tasting paddle at Fossey's Gin
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Product in the spotlight -
Fossey's Original gin Elixir

Fossey’s Original Gin Elixir

As the Fossey’s chief Ginspired Blogger Girl, I thought it may be time I told you a little bit about me &  the very ginsational Fossey’s Original Gin Elixir!

You may have read in a previous blog that I had been a vodka & soda girl for quite some time after deciding that beer wasn’t exactly most people’s idea of classy and although wine definitely was an improvement, it also wasn’t so great for my waistline either. So vodka and soda became my drink of choice for any sort of socialising or Friday night unwinding. 

I joined the Fossy’s team in February & part of my job was to get to know the different fabulous gin creations that are part of our collection. So I set about trying each one of them. After all, I have to believe in what I am promoting and how could I promote Fossey’s if I didn’t even know what was so special about this particular gin, right? 

I will confess it really didn’t take a lot of arm twisting for me to become a fully blown gin-vert & be singing Fossey’s praises whenever the ginnoccasion called for it…oh alright…even when it didn’t. And although, I was late to the party with understanding & appreciating the ginnovations that had taken place in the white spirits world, I am proud to say Fossey’s is now my drink of choice. 

Of course, when I started making my way through the different array of unique Fossey’s creations, I started with the Original Fossey’s Gin Elixir mixed with Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic water & ice with a slice of lime & orange as a garnish. From the very first sip I knew I had found a new drink of choice & suddenly understood why there are so many ginnoseurs in the world. 

Fossey’s really is made from the heart. It’s a family owned & boutique distillery who put a gincredible amount of love & effort into everyone of their creations. They use the finest ingredients & personally I believe this is the reason I don’t suffer from a hang over the day after gindulging just a little too much the night before. 

After researching just a little bit more why Fossey’s Gin is such a high end & premium product, I gincovered that at the heart of every Gin, is a Juniper Berry & Fossey’s have scoured the world to bring you the absolute best product for their exquisite elixir. After an extensive journey, the uniquely crisp flavour of freshly foraged Juniper Berries which are the dominant flavour of our Gin Elixir, are proudly supplied to Fossey’s from around the Ludlow area in the UK, which by happenstance is where Fossey’s family originated from! (Like WOW! That actually blew my mind that the juniper berries that go into a Mildura made gin are sourced from the UK!)

Fossey’s Original Gin Elixir is truly a defined Australian Gin, replacing traditional ingredients with our glorious Australian grown Lemon Myrtle and Pepperberry, Lavender and Cassia, just to name a few. 

Fossey’s ginnovators also expertly blended a perfectly & carefully selected Mildura grown citrus bringing 130 years of dedication and tenderness growing citrus into each bottle to make something that is truly unique and special.  

Whoa! So after learning all of that, I realised that every drop of Fossey’s Original Gin Elixir was extra special & understood there is not much else on the market (if anything) that could come close to being in the same class as this extraordinary tipple! 

If you haven’t already joined our Friend of Fossey’s club which is our gin-loyalty program that gives our members, exclusive & very special offers, then I highly recommend you do so…hint hint…this fabulous drop has $10 off right now for our FOF members! 

Bottoms up & chin chin, gin lovers!

Until next time,

Fossey’s Ginspired Blogger Girl

PS I have got to confess having my Fossey’s G&T nightly whilst being in isolation with children has certainly made things more bearable. 

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Gin Myths: Is Gin a Depressant? Does Gin help with weight loss?

gin myths

Gin Myths: Is Gin a Depressant? Does Gin help with weight loss?

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What is the real story with these old gin myths?

I first heard the rumour “Gin is a depressant” when I was about 16. I had no idea and believed the person that told me because surely they must know a lot more about alcohol than me, given they were 40 and I a mere teenager.

Since then, I have never had a ginkling and always preferred to go for a vodka soda to keep my weight down with the lower caloric alcoholic bevvy. To be truthful, I never liked vodka soda very much. It was definitely an acquired taste and one I kind of forced myself to enjoy in the name of squeezing into my jeans and enjoying a drink or ten at the same time. After awhile, I was used to it and it became the staple alcoholic drink when relaxing or socialising.

However, since starting my ginspirational career at Fossey’s, I have discovered a whole new world of flavours when it comes to the humble white spirit. Who knew gin could be so exciting or delectable? Certainly not me. I accept I may have been a little slow to catch on to the rising popularity of flavoursome gin, but now I have discovered the array of delicious flavours gin comes in at Fossey’s, I can assure you I am a convert! Vodka soda really does pale in comparison, is frighteningly boring and very yawnish.

Since becoming a converted gin fan, I mentioned to a friend, I was buying a bottle of Fossey’s Desert Lime Gin for a girls night out, He quickly replied, “gin is a depressant”. I asked him how he knew that and his reply was “everyone knows that” as he shrugged knowingly, and rather annoyingly.

A little concerned my friends and I would suddenly turn into blubbering and hysterical messes after two G&T’s, picturing each of us trying to speak through sorrowful howls, whilst trying to console the other. I pondered, where did this ginformation come from? Is it actual fact? Or just some crazy wives tale?

My first step into my ginvestigation was to ask one of the fabulous Fossey’s distillers what the deal was and how gin was different to other spirits to cause it’s drinkers to wail uncontrollably into their tipple and uncovered there is NOTHING different in gin than other spirits that would induce immediate depression.

Hmm…clearly this was a case for the ginternet.

So I went digging to find where this widespread and seemingly nonsensical gin myths came from. Gincredibly, I found that there absolutely no basis for the myth that gin is any more a depressant than any other spirit. I am elated to report that it is undeniably a MYTH. The general consensus is that it is just like any alcohol being a mood enhancer – that is if you are feeling fabulously chirpy, then gin could enhance that. On the other hand, if you are feeling salty and sad, then too much gin, in a short amount of time, could possibly enhance that. Same as any other form of alcohol!

In fact, in my snooping I uncovered that a G&T does not live up to these weird gin myths, is not only gindescribably delicious and not a depressant but it is also aids WEIGHT LOSS.

Hold up…what?

Yep you read right! A Latvian study by researchers from the Sigulda University found that G&T boosts our body’s ability to burn calories for one hour after drinking it (sounds legit). Another ginteresting fact is gin is made from antioxidant-rich juniper berries which speed up your metabolism. Doesn’t that ginformation just make you want you to stock up and drink up – all in the name of good health & fitting into your jeans, of course?

Bottoms up & chin chin, gin lovers!

Until next time,

Fossey’s Ginspired Blogger Girl

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