Legend tells us that the magical people of Maori folklore, the Patupaiarehe, warmed themselves and toasted friendships with a drink distilled from the berries of the Titoki tree. The potion, it was said, captured the intensity and glow of Aotearoa’s hidden fires.

In the early 1970s an Auckland wine-maker decided to create a uniquely New Zealand liqueur which utilised the pungent, aromatic smells of the New Zealand native bush. Soon there were bubbling mixtures on the stove, and what started as a hobby, grew into a three-year search for the right ingredients. The flavours of the native bush.

There were many disappointments before a suitable bouquet and flavour was found with a mixture including Kawakawa leaves, Manuka and Titoki leaves. Producing a commercially viable Liqueur from purely natural ingredients however was not feasible. So further painstaking research followed before a combination of several nature-identical and artificial flavours produced the uniquely New Zealand  “Ti-toki Liqueur” – First New Zealand Liqueur.

To ensure Ti-toki retained a truly New Zealand identity it was packaged in a hand-glazed ceramic crock in the shape of a Tekoteko – the carved figure that guards against evil spirits on the top or in front of a Maori house.