30th September 2023
Embrace the spirit of Oktoberfest with us! On Saturday, September 30th, the vibrant sounds of the Cooma Oom-Pah-Pah Band will fill the air from noon until 4 pm. Get ready to dust off your Lederhosen and Dirndl because we invite you to be a part of the fun! Join us for the Oktoberfest Celebration that promises laughter, music, and lots of schnapps, beer and sausages!
Here at wildbrumby, wintertime is our favourite season! To share the joy, we’ve got a selection of warming winter cocktails for you to try at home.
Roaring fireplaces, snow angels, ski slopes and snowflakes – the world is a little more magical at this time of the year. Ok, maybe winter looks a bit different to you. But we think you’ll agree that this season isn’t complete without a mug of hot gluhwein or a steamy winter warmer. So, to toast the winter, we’re sharing a few must-try winter cocktail recipes so you can re-create the spirit of the Snowies in your own home.
Here’s a hot tip…
The secret to any warm cocktail is to pre-heat your mug or heat resistant glass. To do this, pour hot water straight from the kettle into your vessel of choice and allow the heat to warm it up. Just remember to discard the hot water before serving your cocktail. Now, get creating the perfect Après treat!
Glühwein
You can’t make a list of must-try winter cocktails without mentioning the king of all winter warmers. Glühwein is a warm, wine-based drink enjoyed throughout western Europe during wintertime, mulled with a delicious blend of wintery spices. The literal translation in German is ‘glow-wine’, and that is exactly what this drink does. One sip and you’ll be glowing with warmth from head to toe.
How to make it:
All the hard work is done for you with this fusion of spiced wine and pink lady apple schnapps. Simply pour a bottle of our wildbrumby Glühwein into a pot. Add a cinnamon stick, star anise, orange slices and heat on a stovetop. Make sure to heat the liquid without bringing it to the boil. Once warm, serve into 4 pre-heated mugs and garnish each with a slice of orange and a cinnamon stick.
Faceplant
The best kind of Faceplant you’ll have all day! Baked Apple Schnapps brings home the sweet spirit of home-grown pink lady apples, cinnamon, cloves and star anise — and a velvet layer of whipped cream on top will soon melt away all memories of any snow-related mishaps.
Ingredients:
25mL wildbrumby baked apple schnapps
whipped cream
cinnamon
How to make it:
Gently warm your wildbrumby baked apple schnapps in the Microwave for 10-15 seconds in a shot glass. Top with whipped cream and add a light dusting of cinnamon. Sip and savour with friends, preferably in front of a roaring fire.
Our wildbrumby baked apple schnapps is a seasonal product and will only be available for a limited time during winter.
Schnapperol Spritz
Perfect for those bluebird days! Here’s a cooler alternative for when you’re sitting in the sun, surrounded by friends and springtime snow.
Ingredients:
50ml Wildbrumby Negroni
Fever Tree Blood Orange Soda
How to make it:
First, fill a large wineglass with lots of ice. Add our wildbrumby Negroni and top up with Fever Tree Blood Orange Soda. Garnish with a slice of orange or a blood orange, and star anise.
Stay warm this winter, and don’t forget that all wildbrumby ingredients are available online or at our distillery door.
Liquid Apple-Butterscotch Pie
What’s better than apple pie? How about an apple pie with butterscotch… in liquid form!
That is exactly what this drink is. Delicious toffee notes from our signature wildbrumby Butterscotch Schnapps matched with cinnamon spice and apple sweetness. You’ll want a second serving of this drink. Better still, it is low in alcohol volume. So, you can enjoy a little bit more after a long day on the slopes.
Ingredients:
200mL wildbrumby butterscotch schnapps
400mL cinnamon tea
400mL sparkling apple juice
How to make it:
Make the Cinnamon Tea by placing 2 cinnamon sticks and 2 cups water into a pot. Bring to boil and allow the tea to simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. At the same time, heat 2 cups of Sparkling Apple Juice in a separate pot over the stove and bring to the boil.
Once your cinnamon tea and sparkling apple juice are heated, add 100mL of each to a pre-heated mug and top with 50mL wildbrumby Butterscotch Schnapps. Repeat this step to achieve four serves and garnish each mug with a cinnamon stick.
Negroni Tea
Possibly the simplest cocktail on our list is the Negroni Tea. Our wildbrumby Negroni is an expert blend of our award-winning classic gin, our seasonal baked apple schnapps, and a dash of homemade Italian bitters. It’s all there in the bottle. Ready for you to enjoy over ice with a slice of orange. Imbued with vibrant spices, there is only one thing that could make this cocktail more perfect for winter – give it a hot twist!
Ingredients:
120mL rooibos tea
60mL wildbrumby negroni
How to make it:
Add boiled water and rooibos tea to a teapot and brew for 4 – 5 minutes. For one serve, pour 120mL of rooibos tea into a pre-heated mug and top with 60mL of wildbrumby Negroni. Rooibos tea combined with our wildbrumby Negroni is vibrant in colour and has a berry, spice-filled scent that will awaken your senses all by itself.
Sweet and sinful with just the right amount of sting – our wildbrumby devil’s tongue chilli schnapps is the brilliant combination of habanero chilli and pink lady apples.
This schnapps has converted chilli rejecters, and inspired new flavour possibilities in the minds of life-long chilli lovers.
On days where all four seasons want to make an appearance, chilli would have to be the perfect ingredient to play with in cocktails. It’s soul warming against a cool breeze, and vibrantly zing-y under a glowing sun. You can enjoy these cocktails hot or iced – and to top it off, the flavour combinations are almost endless.
New to the chilli trend or a diehard chaser of chilli heat? We have a cocktail for you.
Here are four of our favourite chilli-inspired cocktails using our wildbrumby devil’s tongue. You’ve been warned: this schnapps has bite!
To bring these cocktails to life, you can purchase our wildbrumby devil’s tongue schnapps here.
Strawberry Sting
Chilli and strawberry are the surprising pair that you won’t be able to get enough of! Especially when summer wants to say ‘hello’ in late autumn – or when friends spontaneously pop around with a devilish cheese platter.
Ingredients:
30mL wildbrumby devil’s tongue
30mL strawberry syrup
soda water
punnet of strawberries
How to make it:
To make your strawberry simple syrup, quarter 5 strawberries before mashing in a small pot.
Add 100g white sugar and 120mL water to the pot. Bring to a simmer and stir till the sugar has dissolved before taking it off the heat. Once the mixture has cooled and taken on a reddish-pink colour, strain the contents into a small jug.
Now that you have your strawberry syrup – it’s go time! Pour wildbrumby devil’s tongue schnapps and your strawberry syrup into an ice filled glass. Top with soda water and garnish with halved strawberries.
This recipe will make 6 servings. Bottomless Strawberry Stings anyone?
Donner & Blitz
Long-time fans of our wildbrumby devil’s tongue will flaunt this cocktail as one of their favourite ways to drink the spicy-sweet schnapps – and with one sip you can see why.
The Donner & Blitz cocktail, meaning thunder and lightning in German, has all the punch of habanero chilli backed up by a ginger ale zing. Better still, it’s easy to make!
Ingredients:
30mL wildbrumby devil’s tongue
ginger beer
sprig of mint to garnish
How to make it:
Simply pour our wildbrumby devil’s tongue schnapps into a tall, ice filled glass. Top with ginger ale and garnish with a sprig of mint.
If you’re a die-hard chilli lover and looking for a bit more heat, try this recipe with 60mL wildbrumby devil’s tongue.
Dreamy Devil
This is a classy martini-style cocktail that can be enjoyed any time of the year – and there are endless variations at your fingertips if you like to play around with ingredients. But if you are a lover of chilli and chocolate, then this is most certainly the devilish treat for you.
Ingredients:
30mL wildbrumby devil’s tongue
30mL chocolate simple syrup
30mL thickened cream
20mL kosciuszko vodka
dark chocolate to garnish
How to make it:
Making your chocolate simple syrup is easier than you might think.
In a small, pourable cup add 60mL of hot water from the kettle to 2 tablespoons of dark chocolate drinking powder. Stir till your mixture is free from chocolate clumps before adding 50g of white sugar. Continue to stir until the sugar has dissolved and allow the mixture to cool.
Once you have your chocolate simple syrup ready to go, combine all ingredients in an ice filled bar shaker. Shake thoroughly and serve in a chilled martini coup. Garnish with dark chocolate shavings.
Chilli Hot Chocolate
Speaking of chilli and chocolate… have you tried our wildbrumby devil’s tongue schnapps in a hot chocolate?
Ingredients:
30mL wildbrumby devil’s tongue
hot chocolate
marshmallows
How to make it:
We love serving this cold weather treat to our distillery guests – it’s a true soul warmer. Whilst we’re not going to share all our secrets, here is how you can make your version of our chilli hot chocolate at home.
Make yourself a piping-hot mug of hot chocolate using your favourite method. Just before serving add 30mL of our wildbrumby devil’s tongue schnapps to your mug. Don’t forget the marshmallows.
Imagine a deliciously warming, mountain schnapps that blends the sweet spirit of Australian pink lady apples with traditional wintery spices; cinnamon, cloves and star anise…
Distilled in ‘Florence’ our small batch pot still, Baked Apple Schnapps is a sumptuous fireside tipple only available in winter that makes delicious cocktails (read on) and now ranks as of our most anticipated seasonal schnapps.
Blending blissfully with award-winning wildbrumby gin for a wintery martini, it is also the inspiration behind our winter Negroni, which combines Baked Apple Schnapps with our classic gin and a dash of homemade Italian bitters.
Schnapps is native to the European Alps, where the winters are too cold for traditional wine production. The word ‘schnapps’ is derived from a German noun that means to ‘swallow’ — hence it was traditionally served in a little glass and consumed immediately. In Europe it is also commonplace to have a ‘shot’ between each round of beer.
Made from the fermented fruit that grows in these regions, schnapps is traditionally dry and high in alcohol (40%).
Wildbrumby’s range of premium schnapps follows the traditional 40%, but our 15 years’ experience of schnapps distilling in the Australian Snowies has taught us that local palates prefer an easy-drinking liqueur-style schnapps of around 18% alcohol volume.
This is sweeter and fruitier than our premium schnapps range, so we call it liqueur schnapps and it is made from the highest-quality fermented fruit in our region. Our philosophy has always been to source the very best of everything, from fruit and spices, to our pure, pH-balanced alpine spring water.
All schnapps can be served chilled and consumed neat or over ice, but its unique flavour profile also makes it an ideal addition to wintery cocktails such as the Faceplant and the Negroni. However you choose to serve it up, this schnapps is most certainly one to sip and savour with friends and family around the fire on a cold winter’s day.
Check out our favourite baked apple cocktail recipes:
Faceplant
The Faceplant serves up the sweet spirit of home-grown Pink Lady apples, cinnamon, cloves and star anise, with a velvet layer of whipped cream on top.
Ingredients:
25 ml wildbrumby Baked Apple Schnapps
Whipped cream
Cinnamon
Method: Warm Baked Apple Schnapps gently in the microwave for 10-15 seconds in a shot glass. Top with whipped cream and add a light dusting of cinnamon.
Baked Apple Delight
Ingredients:
60 ml Wildbrumby Baked apple schnapps
30 ml Kosciusko vodka
30 ml apple juice
30 ml cream
Method: Add all ingredients to an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake till cold. Double strain into chilled martini glass and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Winter Negroni
You can order a ready-made bottle of from the wildbrumby shop, but you can also create your own version.
Ingredients:
Baked Apple Schnapps
wildbrumby gin
Bitters
Orange slice
Method: Blend Baked Apple Schnapps with your favourite gin (to taste), add a dash of bitters, and serve in a lowball glass with ice and a slice of orange to garnish.
Baked Apple Sour
Ingredients:
60 ml Wildbrumby Baked apple schnapps
30 ml Kosciusko Vodka
20 ml fresh lemon juice
1 egg white (or 30 ml aquafaba (chickpea juice)
Method: Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker, shake dry (without ice) for 15 seconds then add ice and shake until cold.
Double strain onto ice filled tumbler, garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
We are incredibly honoured to have received not one but TWO awards at the 2023 Snowy Monaro Business Awards, announced at a gala dinner on May 5th to recognise the success of local businesses in our region.
Wildbrumby took home the Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Business of the Year award AND the People’s Choice award for our category, so we’d like to say a huge thanks to all of our wildbrumby customers and community for casting your vote.
The martini is a prince among cocktails, oozing style and panache in every sip.
But for a drink that has endured so long through the ages, it remains stubbornly difficult to master.
Many will tell you the secret to mixing a great martini comes down to selecting the right ingredients and then balancing them perfectly. However, there are a few other factors you need to consider when embarking on this fascinating journey.
At the most simplistic level, it is a cocktail made from a blend of gin and vermouth, then garnished with an olive or lemon twist.
This description doesn’t do it nearly enough justice.
As this cocktail does not feature mixers, its contents must comprise good quality gin or vodka, and dry vermouth (though some recipes ask for sweet vermouth). Other important additions are bitters and (of course) your choice of garnish.
Large, pure and fresh ice cubes are also a must, so use filtered water in your tray and make them just ahead of time (allowing time to freeze, of course).
If you asked 100 martini enthusiasts you would probably get 100 different methods; dry, wet, dirty, stirred, shaken and so on.
To keep things simple, we’ll go with the method we’ve perfected here at the wildbrumby distillery.
First things first, ensure everything is chilled ahead of time, including your mixing glass, the martini glass, and all of your ingredients.
Then you can fill your mixing glass with lots of ice (big blocks work best) and drain any water before adding your gin and vermouth.
We use 6 parts gin/vodka and 1 part dry vermouth, and then a couple of dashes of bitter (orange bitter comes to mind).
Stir your drink for 15 turns to get it as cold as possible, (and add a little bit of water from the melting ice), then strain it into your chilled martini glass and garnish with your preferred garnish — our favourites are a green olive or a little twist of an organic lemon.
All that is left to do is to sit back, relax and enjoy your drink, preferably within 15-20 minutes while it is still icy cold.
For those who like to experiment a bit with different ingredients, there are a few ground rules you may like to consider.
While gin is generally the star of the martini show, not every gin will work in this cocktail.
There really is no place to hide in a martini because you won’t be adding tonic water or fruit juice, so it has to be of exceptional quality.
We recommend you stick with a good quality ‘London Dry’ style gin, which tends to lead on juniper and spice. A fruity gin, like a pink gin or sloe-gin just won’t cut it.
Vodka is sometimes used as an alternative to gin, and once again, quality is the watchword — so invest in a good one.
Now to the vermouth. Thankfully, there is a growing range of these available in Australia. Still, you want something that compliments the gin rather than overwhelms it and ideally, you would start with white vermouth.
Some recipes suggest you rinse the martini glass with vermouth and then tip the excess away. But rather than wasting it, we suggest you just use a little less. Someone put their time and passion into making it, so let’s be respectful.
The bitter is a crucial ingredient that elevates the martini with an extra layer of complexity, but it should only ever be used in moderation.
If you can’t find an orange bitter (which we recommend) then it is fine to roll with the more traditional Angostura bitters.
When it comes to the garnish, this really depends on your taste.
A green olive is a safe and traditional choice and we suggest you use the unstuffed variety stored in brine, not oil.
For those who would rather dodge the olive, a twist of organic lemon or orange is lovely, especially if you prefer a bit of zest.
A small sprig of rosemary or thyme are also good contenders, and a Gibson Martini asks for a cocktail onion. So just play around and find out what works best for you and your choice of ingredients.
Ian Fleming didn’t do us any favours when he decided James Bond would take his dry martini shaken, not stirred — given that most martinis are best when stirred, not shaken!
If you consider the Vesper recipe we associate with Bond (3 parts gin, 1 part vodka and 1/2 part Kina Lillet) then it is understandable given that shaking a drink breaks the ice into smaller pieces, watering down his rather potent mix.
Regardless, we still maintain that most martinis will benefit from a more mellow touch.
Wet and dry martinis have exactly the same ingredients, what varies are the quantities. So, as a rule of thumb, the more vermouth in a martini, the wetter it gets.
For a dirty martini, you add a touch of the olive brine to give it a more distinct flavour. We’ve also been known to add some spent botanicals (from our gin still) to the brine for additional layers of complexity.
Now you know the ground rules for making the world’s most famous cocktail it is time to start experimenting for yourself. Here are some of our favourite recipes to get you started.
60ml Sour Apple Schnapps
30ml Kosciusko Vodka
Lemon twist
Add all your schnapps and vodka to an ice-filled mixing glass and stir until very cold. Strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with a twist of organic lemon.
30ml Classic Gin
30ml Kosciusko Vodka
30ml Apricot Schnapps
Add gin, vodka and schnapps to an ice-filled cocktail shaker (I know earlier I said we don’t shake our martini but trust me on this one) and shake until cold, double strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with an orange twist.
(Courtesy of Philip Jones aka The Martini Whisperer)
60ml Sour Cherry Schnapps (available seasonally)
30ml Kosciusko Vodka
Two dashes Morello Bitters
One cherry
Add your schnapps and vodka to an ice-filled mixing glass and stir until very cold. Strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with a fresh cherry.
45ml Coffee Liqueur (available seasonally)
30ml Kosciusko Vodka
One double shot Espresso
Coffee Beans to garnish
Add all your ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake until very cold, double strain through a fine sieve to get the silky finish on the top and garnish with a few coffee beans.
Enjoy!
7 April 2023
Come and celebrate our 20th birthday on the green with The Hip Replacements playing live music from 1.00 – 4.00pm on Good Friday. Over the past two decades wildbrumby has become a staple of the Australian spirits scene, so come and join us on April 7 for some cool blues music and raise a glass to the Snowy Mountains’ own distilling pioneer! Find out more
It’s raspberry season! That means two things. Picnics with friends in the autumn sun and blushing pink glasses filled with schnappy, raspberry cocktails.
Each raspberry from our patch is plucked by hand in their prime from a ripe maroon harvest and turned into one of three things: a delightful non-alcoholic raspberry syrup, our famous Rubus Patch Gin, or — our scrumptious wildbrumby raspberry schnapps!
Our seasonal raspberry schnapps is sweet, tart and a little bit sassy. This vibrant berry has a knack for bringing excitement to any drink, which is why we keep an organically grown raspberry patch mere steps from our distillery door.
Filled to the brim with juicy raspberries, this schnapps is perfect to sip neat alongside a chocolate rich dessert or a selection of your favourite cheeses.
However, if we caught your attention at ‘blushing pink glasses filled with schnappy, raspberry cocktails’, we’ve got you covered. Here are four raspberry crazed cocktails you’ll want to try out and share with friends — or maybe just keep for yourself.
Raspberry Collins
Our Raspberry Collins recipe is a velvety, bubbly treat that boasts notes of vibrant berry and zesty lime. This is your no-fuss cocktail addition to an afternoon of friends and fruity cheese platters.
Ingredients:
30mL wildbrumby Raspberry schnapps
30mL Rubus Patch Gin
30mL Raspberry syrup
20ml fresh lime juice
Soda water
Method:
Add all your ingredients except the soda water to a big ice-filled glass. Give it a good stir with a bar spoon, then top with soda water. Garnish with mint, lime and fresh raspberries.
Alternatively, replace the raspberry syrup and lime juice with 15mL lemon juice and sugar syrup. Add a twist of lemon rind, and voila! You have a refreshing and Instagram-worthy cocktail in hand — thanks to the blushing hue of our raspberry schnapps.
Clover Club
Elegant, foamy and oh so tasty. The Clover Club has long been a drink associated with decadence and showmanship. Both our raspberry forward rubus patch gin and raspberry schnapps come together to create the ultimate pink drink.
Watch as this freshly shaken drink turns from a cloud of white to an exuberant pink in your glass!
If you’ve got a flashy Easter event planned this is the drink your guests will be talking about for days after.
Ingredients:
45mL wildbrumby raspberry schnapps
60mL wildbrumby rubus patch gin
20mL lemon juice
30mL chickpea Juice
Method:
Add all ingredients to an ice filled bar shaker. Shake thoroughly and strain into a chilled martini coup. Garnish with three raspberries on a cocktail pick or put your new lemon twist skills to good use.
Razzamatazz Gin Fizz
If you’re here for pink bubbly sips enjoyed whilst dancing in the afternoon sun — look no further! This picnic party drink is aptly named the razzmatazz gin fizz for its glitzy raspberry notes and a tart grapefruit bite.
Ingredients:
30mL wildbrumby raspberry schnapps
30mL wildbrumby classic gin
30mL grapefruit juice
soda water
Method:
Begin by filling a bar shaker with ice before adding all ingredients excluding the soda water. Shake thoroughly till the outside of your bar shaker is evenly frosted. Strain over ice into a highball glass and top with soda water.
Garnish with a half wheel of grapefruit and two fresh raspberries.
Madame Rouge
One sip of this boozy, raspberry milkshake and you’ll be wanting to serve it with a side of fresh scones.
The Madam Rouge is also a perfect dessert cocktail. So, leave the ice-cream in the fridge, pick up your bar shaker and show off your cocktail making skills!
Ingredients:
45mL wildbrumby raspberry schnapps
30mL wildbrumby rubus patch gin
30mL cream
2 teaspoons raspberry jam
Method:
Add all ingredients to your ice-filled bar shaker. Shake till thoroughly chilled and strain over ice into a martini glass. Garnish with two fresh raspberries.
And Enjoy!
wildbrumby seasonal products are available from our online shop or distillery door for limited periods only.
Let’s raise a glass to pure Australian mountain spirits crafted in the heart of the Snowy Mountains.
Wildbrumby distillery, a pioneer of the Australian spirits industry, is proud to be celebrating its 20th year anniversary.
It was way back in 2003 that wildbrumby founders Brad and Monika Spalding set out to create a haven for distilling and the arts in the stunning Snowy Mountains region.
Over the past two decades the distillery has become a staple of the Australian spirits scene, winning numerous awards for unique and delicious products.
It is also a regular sponsor of local charities and sporting events, and in 2022 was named ‘Business of the Year’ at the 2022 Jindabyne’s Citizen Award Ceremony.
Using locally sourced ingredients, the distillery has become the most recognised schnapps distillery in Australia, attracting visitors from all around the world.
“Twenty years ago, we had a vision to create a distillery that would produce world-class spirits using the purest water from the Snowy Mountains,” said Brad Spalding.
“Today, we are proud to have established a distillery that is not only recognised in Australia but also globally, winning numerous awards across our unique product range.”
The distillery produces a wide range of fruit-based schnapps and in 2018, its flagship product, peach nectar, was a gold medalist at the Australian Distilled Spirits awards. IT was also named Apple Schnapps Distillery of the year at the Melbourne International Spirits Competition.
Wildbrumby also produces a popular range of gin featuring locally-sourced botanicals, with each variety striking gold at international spirits competitions in years past.
Brad and Monika are champions of the arts and have embedded their own artistic vision throughout the distillery, where works from various artists are showcased, including those by Brad (aka Spalding), who is an accomplished artist in his own right.
Distillery visitors can also stroll through the extensive sculpture garden which offers an immersive art experience that is designed to inspire, delight and provoke as it seamlessly blends with the natural surroundings.
To mark its 20-year milestone, wildbrumby is planning a series of events and activities throughout the year, starting on April 7 (Good Friday) with the Hip Replacements playing live music at the distillery from 1.00 – 4.00pm.
“We are excited to celebrate our 20th year anniversary with the community that has supported us throughout the years,” said Brad Spalding.
“So come raise a glass for wildbrumby, one of the pioneers of the Australian craft distillery scene, and here’s to many more years of delicious schnapps and spirits!”
