Charles Tremewen and his partner Rita Tremewen opened Vancouver's first micro-distillery earlier this month and their Long Table Distillery has started to sell its first batch of both London dry gin and Texada vodka.
The couple also plans to soon produce a limoncello and an aquavit at their 1451 Hornby Street location. Whisky may one day be possible, Charles Tremewen told Business in Vancouver.
"Our vision for Long Table Distillery is to build a culture around craft spirits in Vancouver," Charles Tremewen said.
The company's spirits are currently made using imported distilled grain spirit and as many B.C. ingredients as possible, including locally foraged juniper and botanicals for the gin.
Long Table Distillery's Texada vodka is filtered by passing through limestone, which they source from Texada Island.
The husband-and-wife team are new to the distilling scene and are open about not yet fully understanding the province's byzantine regulations surrounding alcohol production.
They have been in close contact with B.C. Liquor Control and Licensing staff, who they say are working with the group of about eight microdistilleries provincewide to develop regulations.
The Tremewens have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to transform their single-level distillery a couple blocks north of the False Creek seawall.
They operate a tasting room Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and offer distillery tours on Saturdays at 4 p.m.
