The super stylish Husk Farm Distillery – with its cellar door, cocktail bar and café – has just opened to the public and is well worth the trip to Tumbulgum. Husk is the creative brainchild of the Messenger family including head distiller Paul along with his wife Mandy (CFO/ chief designer) and their three daughters Harriet (marketing), Edwina (logistics) and Claudia (graphic design).
Production of their first paddock-to-bottle Agricole rum began in 2012, made with the family farm’s homegrown sugar cane to capture the unique flavours of the region – the provenance. Ink Gin hit the market with a bang, with people at home and abroad embracing the smooth Australian taste and quirky colour change of the butterfly pea (from blue to purple) when you add tonic! With each year’s successes, they quickly grew out of the original farm shed and began planning for Husk Distillery 2.0.
“As we’re in the Green Caldera’s natural food bowl, the cocktail and café menus will showcase local produce, along with Blackboard coffee, gin- and rum-infused chocolates, local cheese/charcuterie boards and tasting paddles made from old barrel staves,” they say.