Moonshiners Institute, based in the heart of Newcastle, will begin running make your own gin and spiced rum experiences from March.
The tiny, multi-spirit distillery has space for 18 people per event to make their own botanically flavoured spirits. Each attendee will get to use their own mini still to make a spirit in full view of the working distillery.
The Academies take around three hours. In that time, guests will make their own bottle to take away with them. As well as distilling their own spirit, guests will learn about alcohol and the spirit-making process. They will also get to sample different spirits to understand their preferences better and inform their botanical choices for their own recipe. They will also enjoy Moonshiners’ signature cocktails, made with the spirits produced on-site.
Moonshiners Institute owner and head distiller Luke Smith, who has more than a decade of distilling experience, will be running the sessions.
“I’m passionate about sharing how spirits are made,” he said. “Most people don’t know what goes into the process and presume it’s the same as brewing. While there are similarities, it is quite different. The spirit industry is also generally far less transparent. Moonshiners’ mission is for drinkers to understand more about spirits and what makes them taste the way they do, so they are better informed about what they are drinking and, hopefully, ultimately drink better spirits.”
Luke runs Moonshiners Institute alongside his wife, Grace. Both have backgrounds in the distilling industry, and they launched their own range of five spirits in 2025 – including rum, gin and American-style spirits. They intend to continue experimenting and creating new spirits while delivering the Academies.
“We’ve been talking about doing these experiences for a good while,” added Luke. “It was challenging with Covid and the tough times that followed for hospitality, and it has taken a fair bit of setting up. It’s just me and my wife; we’re a tiny business and doing almost everything ourselves, but we’ve done it, you can now make booze in the Toon!”
“We’d love the folk of the North East to get behind our independent business and join us to learn about making spirits in a very hands-on, hopefully entertaining, way. We think it’ll be a cracking day out,” Grace added.
Academy tickets cost £99 per person, and bookings are now open for weekend dates from mid-March. Corporate and private bookings are also available. More experiences, including make your own whisky events, will begin in the summer.
