A Toronto distillery is turning Christmas trees into gin

Not satisfied with simply drinking in the splendour of the season? Now you can actually swig it, one ounce at a time. That’s because content creator Brenton Mowforth (Cheers to Happy Hour) teamed up with the Junction’s Nickel 9 Distillery to make Trees to Happy Hour Christmas Tree Gin, a tipple that captures the nostalgia of the holidays in every drop.

Related: These Toronto bars are getting festive for the holiday season

Well-versed in searching out and sipping the city’s best cocktails, Mowforth has taken on a new role with the creation of his first spirit. “It’s something I was always interested in,” he says. “I knew it would be a gin. Whiskey is a much bigger commitment. Gin is relatively easy to make, in comparison. It’s like painting on a canvas. What do I want to do, and how do I do that with different botanicals?”

His answer: “A gin that smells exactly like you just walked in your front door and you’ve got a Christmas tree in your foyer.”

The gin’s story began in 2023, when Mowforth and his wife, Sarah, ditched their artificial tree for a real balsam fir. “I remember thinking that it was going to suck to get rid of it when the holidays were over,” he says. “You’re throwing out something that smells so amazing—so I figured we’d just bottle it.”

Mowforth reached out to Chris Jacks and Greg Morrison of Nickel 9 Distillery to distill the evergreen. To complement the tree, the team added cacao nibs, cardamom, coriander and Angelica root, which ties all the botanicals together. Together, Mowforth says, the trio created a spirit that tastes just like Christmas.

Related: A popular Italian bakery is making panettone with mortadella

“Other seasonal gins feel kind of gimmicky and straightforward—like, here’s spruce in your face,” says Mowforth. But Trees to Happy Hour is balanced and subtle. “It’s not so much a Christmas tree gin as a Christmas gin. I wanted it to be nostalgic. I wanted it to be something where people who grew up celebrating Christmas can open up the bottle and immediately be brought back with that aroma.”

Next year, the team will ramp up production with the hope of being listed at the LCBO in time for the holidays. “This is where Nick Kennedy comes into play,” Mowforth says, name-dropping the guy behind Civil Liberties and Civil Works. “He actually has two Christmas tree lots. He’s going to give us the trees that aren’t sold this year, and we’re going to distill them.”

In the meantime, Mowforth and Nickel 9 have distributed this year’s limited release—all made from a single tree—to bars around town, including Electric Bill, Civil Liberties and Cry Baby Gallery. In the true spirit of the season, a portion of the proceeds from sales of the gin will be donated to various charities.