Why Every Gin Company Suddenly Thinks You’re Into Pottery
There’s a gin brand I can’t name because their social team follows me, but trust me, you’ve seen them. You’ve probably seen all of them. Nearly every boutique booze label in New Zealand seems to believe their target audience moonlights as a ceramicist with a side hustle in kombucha vinegar. The bottle is no longer the hero, it’s the vessel it comes with—the pottery tumbler, the sculpted coaster, the handmade stoneware cap, which yes, one brand literally did.
It began innocently enough. A nice earthy aesthetic here, a locally-glazed bottle there. But somewhere around mid-2025, the craft gin scene got possessed by the ghost of a Fringe Festival artisan market. I visited a tasting session in Wellington last spring and left with more clay objects than I did alcohol. To be fair, one of the cups holds my pens beautifully.
To decode the obsession, I spoke to a few freelance brand strategists from the Bay of Plenty who've been pulled into these projects. Turns out, there was a marketing deck making the rounds: a five-slide pitch titled 'Craft Beyond the Glass.’ It encouraged these distilleries to tell a tactile story—every piece of packaging needed a 'second life.' And so, we got gin served in vases. Gin in jars with felt sweaters. Gin you can microwave (don’t).
Is it working? For now, yes. These brands are standing out, not on shelves, but on Instagram grids and flat-lay blogs that are somehow still a thing. But I'm waiting for the swing back. Firms are already whispering about 'visual fatigue' and a ‘return to simplicity.' Until then, enjoy your $85 gin and the ceramic egg cup it came in. It might just be the most expensive tableware you never meant to buy.
It began innocently enough. A nice earthy aesthetic here, a locally-glazed bottle there. But somewhere around mid-2025, the craft gin scene got possessed by the ghost of a Fringe Festival artisan market. I visited a tasting session in Wellington last spring and left with more clay objects than I did alcohol. To be fair, one of the cups holds my pens beautifully.
To decode the obsession, I spoke to a few freelance brand strategists from the Bay of Plenty who've been pulled into these projects. Turns out, there was a marketing deck making the rounds: a five-slide pitch titled 'Craft Beyond the Glass.’ It encouraged these distilleries to tell a tactile story—every piece of packaging needed a 'second life.' And so, we got gin served in vases. Gin in jars with felt sweaters. Gin you can microwave (don’t).
Is it working? For now, yes. These brands are standing out, not on shelves, but on Instagram grids and flat-lay blogs that are somehow still a thing. But I'm waiting for the swing back. Firms are already whispering about 'visual fatigue' and a ‘return to simplicity.' Until then, enjoy your $85 gin and the ceramic egg cup it came in. It might just be the most expensive tableware you never meant to buy.