Acknowledgement of Country:

We acknowledge the land that we live and work on is the traditional lands for the Kaurna people and that we respect their spiritual relationship with their country. We also acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of the Adelaide region and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today. We also pay respects to the cultural authority of Aboriginal people from other areas of South Australia and Australia.

WHO, WHY, WHAT, WHERE?

Who?

Leigh and Lisa-Marie. We have diverse backgrounds; one is hospitality, one in occupational therapy and marketing.  Both of us have a love and passion for gin. Leigh has spent 20 years running cocktail bars around the world, taking part in world-class masterclasses and competing in international cocktail competitions. Lisa-Marie has enjoyed supporting Leigh in his various business ventures, building a former bar 'Four Doors Plus One' on Hindley Street, developing his current catering business and falling in love with the industry (and him of course).

Leigh

It all began for me in the UK managing the oldest cocktail bar in Oxford – Raoul’s.  My time at Raoul’s ignited my passion for not just top-quality spirits but also the incredible history behind them.  I was fortunate enough to compete in international competitions around the country, making the finals for Chivas Regal and Havana Club. 

After 5 years in the UK, I returned to Adelaide with a dream to bring a taste of the London bar scene to Adelaide.  In 2004, I opened the doors of Elysium Lounge in the West End.  The Lounge boasted a back bar of over 300 spirits, an extensive menu of over 100 cocktails and a lot of knowledge for all things spirits. Elysium Lounge was a revelation to the bar scene in Adelaide and in Australia. Elysium Lounge was nominated year after year for 'bar of the year' at the Australian bartender awards.

Lisa-Marie

I have worked for 20+ years as an occupational therapist, but have never quite been satisfied with my career choice. Developing over time my business and marketing strategy acumen I returned to university to study marketing and business which I had realised was my passion. Meeting Leigh and having the opportunity to support him in his business ventures (back seat driving him a little crazy sometimes!) we have always been thinking, "what next?". My friends and family know me well for my many business ideas, so when we imagined the Gin Distillery, we realised this was definitely our next venture, perfectly matched to our combined skill-set.

Why?

With Lisa-Marie running her own business as an occupational therapist and Leigh with a catering business, we encountered a little thing called COVID-19, you may have heard of it?  Well, the pandemic froze the catering business and limited Lisa-Marie to working from home via Zoom, which dramatically reduced our income. Catering has been a dead business during the pandemic and the future unknown during these unusual times for us and so many others.  This forced us to face so many confronting questions - is this still a viable business?  How do we become sustainable in this climate? How are we going to survive financially?  

Then, one lazy Sunday night, we spent time with friends who have a distillery. Immediately, as we enjoyed their produce, we started to ask questions, becoming more and more interested in the distilling process and the various intricacies of the business. On our way home, we were already talking about how to create our own brand, our own style and our own strategy.  We were hooked.

The following months, with all the spare time now enforced upon us by Covid restrictions, we kept ourselves busy extensively researching all there was to know about making gin – from the process to the equipment required, to the boring legal stuff… no stone was left unturned. So dedicated we were to this project, we even stocked up on many of the amazing local gins already available from the nearest bottle shop and continued our research in a more practical way – it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it right?

And so the brand, 'Three Little Birds Distillery' was born.

What?

It has taken us quite a few months to gain our Producer's Licence.  There are so many hurdles to meet to ensure we have followed the processes, understand what to do and have the right equipment. With this in hand, we have invested a lot of our own capital into acquiring the basics to enable us to develop our flavours and explore what does and doesn't work. 

A floral gin that is aromatic on the nose, has a soft mouthfeel and the finish is smooth with a hint of lemon.

So, with gin, we begin. With notes of lemon myrtle and strawberry gum, a truly unique and floral gin, that our taste testing friends have all given a BIG tick of approval to. We feel that our first Signature Gin is a unique offering with the blend of local native varietals that have been blended with the juniper. It boasts a beautiful, soft flavour with tones of lemon myrtle and strawberry gum that have been expertly infused through it.

We have had such an amazing journey so far, learning about different types of bottles, the labelling process, the variety of equipment to use and the incredible support from peers in the industry. We can't wait to start the next chapter of entering the market and continuing to build our brand, creating new flavours and perhaps branching into other spirits as we continue our journey. However, (and this is where you come in!), to keep up with the demand we are anticipating as more and more people taste our flavour, it's time to leave the safety of the little kids' playground.  We are hoping for your support to allow us to buy a still with bigger capacity so that we can ensure we can create and share more (we will remain a small batch distillery) of our sensational gin and build a cellar door in the inner suburbs of Adelaide.

Our inspiration is the beautiful country we call home.

Three Little Birds brand has been created to celebrate Australia. We both love music, and are avid Triple J listeners, with Like a Version on Friday mornings being a staple part of our 'must listen to' for some years. A few years ago, Philly, an indigenous singer, sang his own version of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds". In the interview beforehand, his words resonated with us, and his rendition of the song has remained in our playlists ever since. We are motivated to understand more about our first nations people, and how we can contribute, collaborate and be immersed in their culture more. If you click above, we have added the link to Philly's version and interview for you to listen to. 

Unlike other distilleries, our process starts with producing the spirit for which we add locally sourced botanicals; lemon myrtle, strawberry gum, pepper berry and Geraldton wax. Blended perfectly with juniper, coriander, lime peel and vanilla.

Our signature serve is a tall glass with plenty of ice, tonic or soda water, a twist of lemon peel and a sprig of lemon thyme.

Where?

Three Little Birds Signature Gin will be available in Australia’s best bars and specialist retailers by September but we want our friends and supporters to get their hands on some before the rest of the country.

Three Little Birds Signature Gin will retail at $75 in bottleshops and each batch will comprise just 400 bottles.

So this is a chance to get hold of one of only 400 individually-numbered 700ml signed bottles from Batch No.1 from the new, bigger still (that you are supporting us to purchase) for a great price, with shipping included.

And by supporting us on Pozible you’ll get to join our exclusive, Little Hatchlings club, giving you the opportunity to purchase a bottle from the first batch of any future new releases. Our next releases will be our Bramble Gin and Navy Strength Gin 58% (currently being developed).

One thing is for sure: the investment you make in our company today will go towards a bigger, better and more amazing gin and other spirits into the future.  

Best of all, you get to sample South Australia’s newest gin and we know you’re going to love it!

What next?

As mentioned above, we are developing a bramble gin, which is layered with the signature gin to produce a beautiful subtle flavour of blackberries and lemon peel with slightly sweeter tones emerging.

Then enter our 'Navy Strength Gin 58%' which is also under development!  We are fascinated by the history of alcohol, amongst many other things, and realise how little many of us know about the origins of products and their story. The idea of Navy Strength 58% gin was born from the fact the naval ships would be given rations of alcohol such as rum and gin for the crew. These were stored below deck in wooden barrels together with the gunpowder. If the gin or rum barrels started leaking and soaking into the gunpowder, the alcohol content had to be at least 57.15%, as anything below that would leave the gunpowder smouldering rather than able to burn as it was needed to be. Fun fact: the idea of 'proof' of alcohol was before the time alcohol content could be easily calculated - this was a way it could be tested (or 'proved') to not have been watered down - by burning it to see if it smouldered or otherwise.

Peace. Love. Unity.

Our ethos is squarely footed in working with and supporting local wherever possible. We are new and learning fast, but our ultimate goal is to work with local produce to promote and support Adelaide, South Australia and Australia. We are keen to collaborate and support causes closest to our hearts. We are particularly motivated to support local indigenous communities.  In addition to this, we will support homelessness and domestic violence causes in conjunction with our catering business 'The Caterers of Adelaide'.

How will the funds be used?

All the research, development, licenses, and other costs of Three Little Birds Distillery have been fully funded by us so far, but now we need your support.  The funds from this campaign will go directly into assisting us to produce our first official release of our Signature Gin and other products. From there, we have plans underway to open a cellar door near the city.

The Challenges

We do not foresee any major risks from our business planning as we have an amazing team of people and local bars that are supporting us as we commence production.  As a startup business, we ask for your support to please share our story with your family and friends.

Liquor Licence Information

Three Little Birds Gin supports the responsible service of alcohol.  It is against the law to sell or supply alcohol to, or to obtain alcohol on behalf of, a person under the age of 18 years.  All products shipped by us must therefore be received and signed for by a person over the age of 18 years. We are unable to ship to PO Boxes.  Due to licensing restrictions, we are unable to ship outside of Australia.

South Australian Producer's Licence number: 16843

South Australian Liquor Licensee: Three Little Birds Group Pty Ltd