As a sixth-generation Lord Howe Islander, Anthony Riddle has a longstanding connection with the island.

"My family has been very much entrenched in the history and the tourism industry on the island for many years," he said.

"I was actually born in a hospital named after my great grandfather Gower Wilson who was lost at sea on his way to Lord Howe Island."

With a population of 400 residents and with only 400 tourists allowed at a time, Mr Riddle said the island was a unique place to grow up.

"Everyone walks around barefooted," he said.

"There are no snakes, there are no poisonous spiders.

"School children ride their bikes to school no issue at all and straight after school they can walk 50 metres across the road and be at the beach."

At age 11, Mr Riddle was sent to boarding school on the mainland, where he was exposed to the wider world.

"Going back to the island after eight years after school, I realised there were limited opportunities here for future youth coming through," he said.

"So, after much discussion, me and my childhood friend Christian Young decided to start a business together … to try to grow some awareness of the island."

Botanical brews:

The pair started their brewing and distilling business in 2019 but ran into challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"We were hit with a few hurdles through COVID-19, but it also gave us some really good time to figure out how we wanted to approach this business," Mr Riddle said.

The duo worked on ways to incorporate special features of the island into their beverages.

"We celebrate some of the endangered species that exist around the island, like our phasmid which is the world's rarest stick insect," he said.

"We've named our lager after the [Lord Howe] golden whistler bird and our sour is named after the red-tailed tropicbird, which has also got guava from my garden in it."

Mr Riddle said he collects botanicals from the island by hand before the distilling process.

"The early settlers planted these fruit trees on the island and they are in these old gardens now, so we go and collect them, cryovac them and add them to our very unique tasting gins," he said.

"We've worked out with the Lord Howe Island board what botanicals we can source without having an impact on the wider island, such as the wild lemons which we collect that date back to the 1820s."

The pair have also incorporated the history of the island on their packaging.

"On the back of each can and bottle that we produce it's got a unique story that links to the history of the island," Mr Riddle said.

Island challenges:

Mr Riddle said being an island-based business had its challenges.

"The island is very unique in the fact that it is a World Heritage site and it's also governed by a set of rules that were established around an act which was formed in 1853," he said.

"For example, all the business licences including the liquor licenses have to go through the Lord Howe Island board.

"We are establishing our distillery on the island through approvals through the Lord Howe Island board in the next 2–3 months."

There are also the physical implications of being based on an island.

"We're limited by things like trade, we have to ship things on and off the island," Mr Riddle said. 

"We're also limited by the amount of botanical we can collect and almost all of our products are seasonal."

Mr Riddle said the island also has a unique recycling program, to reduce its residents' carbon footprint.

"It takes a while to understand how the island works but all [the rules] are worth it to keep it our paradise, and limiting our footprint is what we want to do with the business."

"We just want to make something that tourists can take home with them and gives them a piece of the island."

Below | Lord Howe Island locals Anthony Riddle (left) and Christian Young started their brewing business three years ago. Right; Hibiscus flower and kentia leaf are added to one beer brew.

Story By | Keely Johnson