Our Ethos

At Bondi Liquor Co., we don’t do things by halves — and that includes our spirits. Our distilling ethos is all about simplicity, clarity, and downright deliciousness. We create spirits that are easy to enjoy, hard to forget, and full of Bondi attitude.

  • Simple – clean design, no fuss
  • Clean – pure flavours, no junk
  • Delicious – made to be shared, sipped, and savoured

Just like Bondi itself, our spirits are laid-back yet elevated. Born from sunshine, sea breeze, and a tight-knit community — we’re proudly Made in Bondi.

Meet May, our Aussie-Made Still

At the heart of our distillery sits May, our 200L pot still and the queen of our operation. Handcrafted in Western Australia by local legends HHH Distill, May is 100% Australian-made and built for flavour.

She’s got:

  • A 200L belly for crafting big batches of goodness
  • 2 Vapour Baskets for extracting all that botanical beauty
  • A 3-Plate Column for clean, consistent magic

Why “May”? It’s a nod to two things:

  1. May 2020, when we officially turned our dream into a distillery.
  2. Mrs. May Loftus, a Bondi local and trailblazer believed to be the first female lifesaver to earn the Bronze Medallion. A pioneer, just like our still.

The Distilling Process – Simple on the surface, magic in the middle.

Science meets surf culture in our still room.
Distilling is all about knowing when to turn up the heat (literally).

Here’s the short version:

  • Ethanol boils at 78°C. Water at 100°C.
  • We heat the still just right, so the ethanol turns into vapour first.
  • That vapour travels through vapour baskets, our column, and down the Lyne Arm, before being cooled and condensed back into a liquid — aka the good stuff: distillate.

Sounds simple, but it’s all about precision. One degree off, and you’ll taste it.

Why we use grape-based ethanol

We could use grain or sugar — but we’re big fans of grape-based ethanol. It’s not just smooth, clean, and high-quality — it also has a sustainability story we’re proud of.

Here’s the cool part:
Australian wineries often toss out leftover grape skins (aka grape marc). But thanks to a clever mob at Tarac in South Australia, this so-called waste gets a second life. They extract the remaining ethanol via continuous distillation, and voilà, we’ve got premium grape-based spirit, and the wine industry has mulch or livestock feed that’s safe to use. Win-win.

It’s local. It’s low-impact. And it makes a damn good base for gin.

Born & raised in Bondi

From our still to your glass, every bottle of Bondi Liquor Co. captures the essence of the beachside lifestyle we live and love. It’s relaxed, refined, and a little rebellious, just how we like it.