Interview with Karl Dixon, Head Distiller, Ecology & Co

 

From mind-bending mixologist to dry distiller, meet the new chief maker of Ecology & Co

He prefers the glow of the distillery to the limelight, but we coaxed him away from the still and into the spotlight for four minutes. Meet Karl; our self-deprecating but genius distiller who gave us a rare peek into his background, what drew him to New Zealand, rebuilding after the earthquakes and reinventing the drinks industry.

How did you get into the world of food and beverage?

I kind of fell into it. I grew up in Herefordshire, England where my mother owned a catering company. From eight years old I was in a tuxedo, pouring champagne at wedding receptions and traveling around with her doing pig roasts and things like that. 

And then I jumped behind the bar, where she was working as a as a cook.

Not when you were eight years-old?!

No! I was 17 by then. Apparently, education was more important, so I delayed my barman career for a few years. Within 12 months of arriving, the bar manager disappeared and so, at 18, I took over managing the bar full time. I’ve never looked back.

When did you leave England?

I went travelling in my early twenties and soon realized that no matter where you are in the world, people like drinking, going out and socialising. So, staying behind the bar was easy work and a great way of funding my travel.

Based on the fact you’re still in New Zealand, can we assume that the gap year became more than that?!

I told my mum I was going away for a year, and that was 12 years ago. So yes, it was a tad longer than planned and still counting...

What is it that pulled you to New Zealand specifically?

There's a lot of opportunity here in New Zealand. It's a beautiful country, and particularly in Christchurch, because I arrived one year after the earthquakes.

It was a city that was rebuilding and it’s been cool to be part of that. Especially its hospitality scene. Seeing that industry getting back on its feet, watching that grow and being part of that reinvention has been special.

While we’re talking reinvention, tell us about your mixology days...

After you’ve made approximately 3,000 mojitos, it becomes less fun so my favourite thing to do behind a bar became to take your classic cocktails and add the unexpected. I made pina coladas that looked like water. I’d put ingredients together that just shouldn’t work but do. Basically I like messing with people’s minds!

But at the same time, I was learning how to extract different flavours and blend them. Playing with the classic ideologies of cocktail crafting is what led me to the distillery where I’ve spent the last five and a half years...

How have you found the move from working with alcohol to the non-alc space?

It’s a great challenge. The way the flavour compounds react with water as opposed to alcohol is really different. Alcohol is a better extractor of all the flavour compounds and aromas which is why some non-alcoholic gins in the market can taste pretty flat compared to their alcoholic counterparts. We don’t fall into that category. I’ve been on a crazy learning curve to ensure that which is pretty cool for me.

Is distillation an art or a science?

Both. On the less glamourous side, stabilising the product so it stays fresh for longer is super important and an essential part of all non-alcoholic production. As the alcohol is such a good stabiliser, finding different ways to keep the flavours and ingredients shelf stable without it has been a big discovery process. 

As well as hands-on experimenting I’ve been reading lots of scientific papers from outside the industry to see what we can pull in from elsewhere as that’s the only source of material. It’s all so new. 

Distilling alcohol-free spirits is a much more delicate and conscious process. But I’m enjoying the ride and I’m really happy with where we’ve got to with our London Dry and Asian Spice.

Trade secret or can you tell us what you’ve been up to with the current products?!

What we call ‘The Holy-Ginity’ – juniper, coriander seed and angelica root – remains. The key changes to the London Dry have involved playing with the ratio of ingredients and moving away from compound to traditional London Dry-style single shot distillation. There’s now less basil and cinnamon and we’ve upped some of the other botanicals. It’s great with a chunky wedge of lime (this works really well with the high intensity juniper berries), loads of ice and tonic.

For the Asian Spice, I’ve added more lemongrass which makes it super fresh, super vibrant and super light. We’ve toned down the earthiness by swapping black pepper for pink peppercorn. A slice of orange pairs brilliantly with the lemongrass and gives a more complete flavour profile.

That’s all I can give away for now. The best thing you can do is go and try it...