Mother of three, and a Health Science graduate, Lacey Bourne has always been passionate about making, creating, repurposing and growing. The idea to make gin came to her while studying horticulture, from the desire for a new challenge.
“Alongside that came the realisation that I could grow or source all the botanicals here in New Zealand, and that making gin was going to be the perfect bridge between science and craft.”
At Dr Beak, Bourne has three core values - nature, approachability and ‘take me outside’. The distillery takes inspiration from Aotearoa’s amazing biodiversity, creating bold but balanced products that will take people on a journey. For Bourne, a great spirit is made with time, passion, balance and respect. Whilst crafting products, Bourne wants them to be fun and factors this into recipe development. Currently, the distillery only uses botanicals that can be grown in New Zealand, with the exception of Juniper.
“That is something we are working on. We are in the development phase of growing a Juniper shrubbery.”
Bourne finds growing botanicals the most rewarding aspect of her job, as she absolutely loves being outdoors and working with plants. As her way of giving back, Dr Beak donates five percent of profits to Forest & Bird.
From launching their first product, to staying in business through the challenges and restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bourne has a number of proud moments. In 2021, the Dr Beak New Zealand Premium Gin and Garden Gin took home Gold and Silver respectively at the New Zealand Spirits Awards competition.
Bourne’s ultimate goal for the future is to create a ‘single site’ botanical gin, where all botanicals come from her home block in Martinborough.
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