Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

NEW DISTILLERIES

Kamloops is in the midst of a craft spirits boom

Mar 18, 2021 | 3:45 PM

KAMLOOPS — First it was wine. Then, craft beer. Now, craft spirits are the new beverage craze on the block in Kamloops, with two craft distilleries operating in the city, and two more on the way. CFJC Today takes a look at the two distilleries that opened their doors in the past year to find out more about the local spirits they’re producing.

They’re the original Kamloops beer dynasty. Now, the Beardsell family has expanded their business into craft spirits.

“We’ve been doing beer for a long time. We’re definitely a beer family,” Lara Beardsell tells CFJC Today. “It’s kind of nice to be doing something different, as well.”

Apparently, brewing beer and distilling gin are two complementary processes.

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“We can really use a lot of the equipment we already have in-house for making gin,” Lara explains. “It’s really a great use of the equipment that we had.”

Up the hill on McGill Road, the process is similar at Kamloops’ other new craft distillery, which is named after an iconic Kamloops landmark.

Owners David Nikkel and Richard Bugera were avid consumers of gin and decided they wanted to make their own.

“We enjoy drinking it,” Bugera explains.

“We’re really good at the consumption part,” Nikkel says with a laugh. “Once we dug into is, we found out you had to be licensed, even just to do it as a hobby.”

So far, Red Bridge Distilling has released three different products: their original vodka and gin, as well as a flavoured gin for Valentine’s Day.

“I’m surprised at how much of our vodka we sell,” Bugera says. “There’s lots of vodka on the market, but because our’s is nice and smooth, we end up selling that more than we initially planned on.”

Back at the newly-renovated tasting room at Red Collar, sister Tessa Beardsell is behind the bar, making tasty concoctions.

“Most of our cocktails are doubles,” Tessa Beardsell explains, as she pours a shot of Ruby Red Haskap Berry Borealis gin. “Actually, all of our cocktails are doubles.”

One of the unintended consequences of their new gin offering is a diversity in the clientele coming into the tasting room.

“Obviously if you didn’t like beer, you wouldn’t really come to a brewery,” Tessa says. “Now, with having the gin, I find that we have a lot more women especially that are a lot keener on coming in.”

With summer coming and new products on the way, both Red Bridge Distilling and Gin Lane are expecting to be busy as the weather warms up.