This berry-infused gin is about so much more than the botanicals

The native fruit that Sam Kirby uses in his Wandering Emu gin ripens in the middle of summer. The bushes, which grow wild along the Murray in the hot mallee country of southern NSW and northern Victoria, are dense and prickly. As a result, Kirby often finds himself alone when it comes to harvest time.

“It can be 40 degrees when the fruit’s ready to pick,” he says. “And the flies can be pretty horrible out there. I try to get friends and family to help: one of my cousins has, and my kids have helped me a little bit. But it’s mostly me doing it.”