The idea of opening a cocktail bar has been with us for years - one of those ideas with so many hurdles it sometimes felt impossible.

For those who don’t know me, I’m Isabella. I run the day-to-day operations here alongside my brother Jeremy. We have spent many late nights scheming and dreaming this bar into existence. We imagined a lively space where people could come together, enjoy exceptional cocktails, and share great food - a place that felt like the true Kiwi Spirit experience, where people could linger, chat, and soak up the atmosphere.

In January 2024, that dream officially met reality when we first contacted Tasman District Council to see if opening a bar was actually possible. What we expected to be a fairly straightforward step quickly became something much bigger. Before we could even apply for our On Licence - the licence required to operate as a bar - we had to complete a full Resource Consent Amendment. What we’d hoped might have us open for the summer of 2024–2025 turned into a mammoth, drawn-out process that stretched close to two years.

Business can look glamorous from the outside, but the reality is far less shiny. It’s paperwork stacked on paperwork, compliance, inspections, uncertainty - and just so much darn cleaning. These applications don’t come with any guarantee of success, and they cost tens of thousands of dollars just to attempt. For a small, self-funded business like ours, it genuinely felt like betting the company on the roll of a dice.

As the end of 2025 crept closer and we were still without a licence, we started to sweat. Another summer without opening the bar felt very real. September and October were nail-biting months - by this point, Tasman District Council (famous for their speed and efficiency…) had been processing our applications for nearly two years. Then, in early November, we got the phone call. We were told to expect our licence within a couple of weeks. After years of waiting, planning, and second-guessing, suddenly it was happening. We clinked the champagne glasses - and immediately realised the real work was only just beginning.

We set a tentative opening date of December 5th. That gave us four weeks to turn our slightly tired, much-loved cellar door into a fully-fledged, sparkling new cocktail bar. The budget was, very honestly, a shoestring. But what we did have was an incredible team.

We were joined for summer by what can only be described as the dream team. Zerlina, my sister, was home from university, bringing with her years of Kiwi Spirit’s experience and the kind of energy and focus that just gets things done. The iconic power couple Kieron and Bailey returned after running our cellar door the summer before - Bailey stepping straight back into her role as Cellar Door Manager, she's the Bar Manager every bar wishes they had, and Kieron, a brilliant bartender who had been a key part of the production team the year prior and could sell a comb to a bald man. Then there was Riley, a new recruit who started on odd jobs and very quickly became indispensable - keen to learn, always asking questions, and bringing a great attitude.

And of course, last but by no means least, my mum Kerstin, who works at Kiwi Spirits year-round. Trying to sum up her role in a single sentence is impossible - she quietly does it all, the calm in the midst of our chaos, and without her this place, and especially the cocktail bar, simply wouldn’t exist.

The workload was huge, but the energy was even bigger. At our first planning meeting we started listing everything that needed to be done before opening. That list quickly grew to well over 300 tasks. We wrote them all out on a giant piece of paper and started crossing them off one by one. Looking back, those weeks were some of the most enjoyable I’ve ever had at Kiwi Spirits. There’s something incredibly special about working side by side with a motivated, dedicated team to build something from nothing, shaping every detail and making it exactly how you want it to be. You can’t beat that feeling.

At the same time, we had tradies coming in to help bring the space to life, right in the middle of the infamous ‘done before Christmas’ rush. What we were asking for was far from a small or straightforward job, but nothing was ever an issue. Abel Tasman Plumbing and Gas, JE Building, Shane Eggers Painting, Golden Bay Builders, and of course Jazz Electrics were absolutely incredible. They squeezed us into already overflowing schedules, brought great energy to the site, and delivered everything to a standard we were genuinely proud of. Without them dropping everything and making space for us in the middle of Christmas chaos, there is simply no way we would have opened when we did.

From the beginning, our focus was clear: high-quality cocktails at a great price, working with great local suppliers, and serving genuinely good food. We knew we could do the drinks. Food, however, was always our big unknown. It’s not our wheelhouse, and there were some truly questionable ideas floated early on - toasties, cheeseboards, even a cook-your-own BBQ.

Then, by pure luck, a chance chat on the main street in Tākaka changed everything.

Thomas from the Cheeky Goat was keen to do the food at our venue. He was in the middle of his own mad dash to Christmas, opening his Cheeky Goat food cart in town, but he and his team weren’t afraid of a challenge or hard work. He went all in with us, committing to open at Kiwi Spirit Distillery just one week after launching his town location. A food cart was purchased, plans were locked in, and suddenly Kiwi Spirit Distillery and the Cheeky Goat were officially collaborating.

We couldn’t have been luckier. Thomas is a Michelin-star-trained chef who works like a demon. As I write this, we’ve been open seven weeks - and he still hasn’t had a single day off.

As the physical space came together, we turned our attention fully to the menu. Long days blended into late nights, sitting around tasting, adjusting, debating, and refining. These sessions could barely be called work - particularly for Zerlina and Kieron, who usually started with thoughtful tasting notes then, as the evening progressed, their feedback steadily declined into confidently declaring everything “delicious.” At least nothing ever went to waste with those two around.

We wanted every cocktail to stand on its own, with no weak links - a menu that suited different people, different moods, and different moments. We needed something juicy, which became The Golden Babe. We wanted to showcase whiskey properly, so the Ol’ Fashioned had to shine. Bailey was determined to have a clarified cocktail, and after many versions she absolutely nailed it with Boysenberries and Cream. The Summer Affair started life as our original Bitter Affair, but as it evolved and softened, a late-night tasting session delivered its new name. Vegan Lamb Shank, one of Jeremy’s creations, went straight onto the menu untouched. You can’t improve perfection.

Margaritas had to be a real feature. As a Weber Blue Agave Tequilana Farm, this mattered to us - and also, we all genuinely adore a marg. Specs were built and rebuilt. We pulled out our favourite Tequilas and Mezcals and got to work. Salt rim or no salt rim? Cointreau or no Cointreau? Every detail was considered.

As opening crept closer, the pace became borderline manic. On top of everything, we were hit with a massive run on Boysenberry Liqueur online (thank you, Keetrax!). We were packing three times our usual volume of orders, working late into the nights and still not keeping up. Then Black Friday landed and delivered the biggest online sales weekend we’ve ever had. Four days out from opening day, my truck was filled to the brim - twice - hauling orders into town. The biggest website weekend we’d ever seen, with a cocktail bar opening in four days.

Then, suddenly, it was opening day. We quietly announced that we were open, and the locals came out in force - friends, neighbours, familiar faces, and new ones too. After years of imagining, months of stress, and weeks of all-out effort, we were finally doing the thing we’d dreamed about for so long.

And just like that, a dream that had lived in the background for years became our everyday reality. Our first summer as a cocktail bar has been huge. The space has been buzzing, the support has been overwhelming, and people genuinely seem to be enjoying what we’ve built. We certainly are - and it feels like this is only the beginning.