Monachus was founded as a channel of expression for our passion and interest in flavors and aromas, our specific natural environment of Istrian peninsula, and sustainability.

Only a year since launching our first product- Monachus Dry Gin in the wake of the global pandemic in February 2020, we had our first export, and that to Japan in February 2021. The second shipment to Japan followed in November 2021, and Monachus distillates appeared on the menus of bars all around Japan, among which two are listed on the World's and Asia's 50 Best Bars. In 2022, we started exporting to Slovenia, and Monachus is being recognized by some of the best restaurants in Croatia and surroundings. All of it from our former garage in Premantura.

But let's rewind to the beginning, when driven by curiosity, we traveled to some of the best European distilleries, from the big, renowned producers, to small family farms- tasting the finest of the European fruit brandy production and spirits obtained by maceration and distillation of herbs, flowers, and nuts (all of it spiced with the gin craze in the last 10 years). Educating ourselves on the matter of fermentation and distilling, ingredients and flavors through books; going foraging, experimental fermenting, and distilling in a petit still that we ordered from a second-generation blacksmith near Zagreb, all lead to packing our bags to Japan to learn hands-on about working with herbs, fruit, and alcohol to extract and capture the flavors at the Mitosaya Botanical Distillery in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo.

Mitosaya is one of the fastest-growing Japanese craft distillery brands, where Yuko Yamamoto and Hiroshi Eguchi stand for botanical discoveries and perpetual experiments with Japanese fruit and herbs. From them, we draw inspiration and knowledge to work with citruses, use fresh instead of dried herbs in the production, and always make time for new ideas.

Three years since opening our distillery, we focus on working with local, certified organic or low-intervention fruit and wild herbs, experimenting with fermentations and flavors, getting to know all of our suppliers, and knowing exactly which orchards is our fruit coming from. The human touch in the production and transparent ingredient sourcing has been one of our core values from day one. Our flavor experiments often include the use of citruses and coffee, whose use has become our signature already. Fermenting citruses is an endeavor that not many distilleries embark on, as the yield is low. In our small, experimental production, we value refined products from the best possible ingredients far more than the mere quantity.

We realize our ideas without compromise- from working with fruit not often used in distillates production to insisting on sustainably produced and sourced ingredients, and limiting our environmental impact through the use of materials that are both good for our health and our natural environment.

We avoid following the established rules of the industry, as we were always more interested in gastronomy and fair production than spirits competitions. What we define as a real success of our products is the fact that people want to drink and enjoy them, chefs want to have them on their beverage lists, and mixologists want to create flavor combinations with them. That's what matters to us.

Sustainability has been the driving force behind our brand since the beginning. We worked hard to find the producers of organic or low-intervention fruit and herbs, certified organic alcohol, and to, after three years of work, obtain the organic certificate for two of our products and our distillery. We minimize the use of plastic in our production and packaging by using stainless steel and glass containers for our aging and zero plastic in our packaging. The only plastic used in the production are the fermentation tanks, obtained second-hand and used repeatedly for fermentations in our distillery. We strive for minimal waste of the fruit we use, and we created some of our distillates (also some of the best ones) out of our drive for sustainability (read more in our blog about Beware Blood Orange.)

Obliged to use the protective capsule for our export to Japan, we searched and found the producer of biodegradable capsules made from cornstarch- those are harder to produce and more expensive than the regular plastic ones, but as we said- we realize our ideas without compromising.

Finally, we connected and managed to support two environmental organizations last year that take care of endangered wildlife: the Spanish foundation CBD-Habitat which watches over the biggest remaining colony of the Mediterranean Monk Seal in the world, and the Croatian association BIOM, whose goal is keeping biodiversity, focusing on birds. We plan to carry on with these collaborations next year.

Our craft approach is reflected in our visual identity, too. Made by the renowned Swedish studio Bedow, our branding reflects our playfulness, naturalness, sustainability, and dedication to handcraft. Monachus Monachus is the Latin name for the Mediterranean Monk Seal, one of the world's most endangered mammals, that used to live on the coast of southern Istria. We wanted to connect the name of our distillery to our location, and to raise awareness for the protection of our sea. Our logo, a depiction of the Monk Seal, is handprinted on each label.

Finally, we are still a team of two that peels and mashes all the fruit by hand, takes care of the fermentations, distills, experiments with flavors and talks about flavor ideas all the time, bottles and labels by hand, photographs, markets, and sells all of our products. We are not ashamed of being small, in fact, we are proud of it: we produced 2500 0.5L bottles last year. Our goal is to grow in terms of quality, pushing our limits with each new product, working with exquisite fruit and herbs, and connect with the curious, the innovative, the fair, the knowledgeable from the world of good food and drinks. Some of the series we produced count only 50 bottles, so if you bought anything from Monachus last year, you can be sure that we poured a lot of work, fair ingredients, passion, and knowledge into it. Being a small distillery allows us to work with fresh ingredients, connect with our customers on a more personal level, and be sustainable. These are the values we want to preserve in our small distillery.

Yours,

Anja and Luka