April and Mark Greenfeld of Wolf and Woman in Bellambi began creating their own spirits more than 10 years ago with Mrs Greenfeld falling in love with "the science" of it all, while her husband said it was the satisfaction of creating a quality product that got him hooked.
"If we make it all ourselves we can keep an eye on the process to make sure everything's up to standard of how we want it," Mr Greenfeld said.
Sitting on the bar top are two small copper stills - one for whiskey and another for gin - the two they began their journey with. Near the centre of the room is the "heart" of the production, a giant copper still named "Sharyon" after Mr Greenfeld's late mother.
Why not check out their tastings and "gin school" classes to make your own.
The Botanist
This gin and cocktail club has a huge selection of more than 365 gins - most of those Australia - claiming to be the largest gin bar in NSW.
It's found inside the Wollongong Builders Club at 61 Church Street, and is open Wednesday through the Sunday.
The name was chosen as a to English botanist, naturalist and patron of natural sciences Sir Joseph Banks.
Juniper
It was Wollongong's first small bar dedicated gin, housing more than 60 varieties of gin.
They also enjoy a great selection of spirits, wine, cider and craft beer. Champagne, prosecco and bubbly are all available by the glass or bottle - along with casual bar food, and more substantial options via takeaway from Lupa.
Keep an eye on their social media for events like gin tasting, gin appreciation, degustation with matching gins, cocktail masterclass and even gin trivia.
Humber
Wollongong's former Hillman Humber building underwent a sleek transformation in 2014 and became a unique three-level property, featuring a rooftop bar, cocktail lounge and ground floor eatery.
Now known simply as Humber, the Crown Street venue serves Australian gin amongst an array of other cocktails, beers and wines.
Headlands Distilling Co.
Headlands Distilling Company was founded in 2015 by Dean Martelozzo, Jared Smith, Lachlan Hingley and Thomas Simnadis the plan has always been to produce a range of spirits in the Illawarra that are as good as any in the world.
The group have a grain-to-glass philosophy is core to their products like barrel-aged gin, hand-crafted whisky and vodka.
The distillery is open from 4pm-6pm on Fridays or from noon-4pm on Sundays, found at Ralph Black Drive in North Wollongong.
South Coast Distillery
Three years ago by two housemates from Wollongong, Luke Harding and Oskar Schwab, decided to create a perfect gin.
South Coast Distillery in Mount Saint Thomas is now globally-recognised, thanks to its flagship product, Sublime Gin (2019 Champion Australian Small Batch Spirit at the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards and Silver Medal winner at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition).
The cellar door is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, and their cocktail bar is open Fridays 4pm until late and Saturdays 12pm until late.
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Desiree Savage
I write about arts and entertainment, plus other bits and pieces in between at the Illawarra Mercury.
I write about arts and entertainment, plus other bits and pieces in between at the Illawarra Mercury.
