Forest's Seasalt Martini Recipe
The Seasalt Martini has quietly become the most-ordered drink at Forest Byron Bay. Clean, cold, faintly briny, with a nose that makes you feel like you're standing at the edge of somewhere coastal and green.
Surprisingly, the secret isn't the gin, though Never Never Oyster Shell Gin is doing a lot of the work. It's a bar spoon of saline solution, and 10ml of chamomile tea, chilled.
Both sound technical. Neither is.
The recipe
Serves 1. Halve or double as needed.
- 45ml Never Never Oyster Gin
- 1 teaspoon dry vermouth
- 10ml chamomile tea, chilled
- 5ml saline solution
For the chamomile tea: Brew one teaspoon of dried chamomile flowers in a small amount of hot water for four minutes, strain, and cool completely before using. Make it the night before.
For the saline solution: Dissolve half a teaspoon of fine sea salt in 100ml of warm water and stir until clear. It keeps in the fridge for weeks and quietly improves almost everything.
To make: Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake hard, then double strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish: ice plant.
The garnish worth finding
Ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) grows along the coastal edges of the Northern Rivers, low on sandy ground near dunes and beach tracks. Its leaves are covered in tiny translucent cells that catch light like frost.
It tastes gently saline, a clean coastal note that makes it the ideal finish for this drink.
It's one of the more approachable natives to forage in this part of the world. Look for it sprawling low on sandy ground near the coast. Pick a few small stems, rinse well. If foraging isn't your thing, check the Byron region farmers markets, or ask your local specialty grocer.
At Forest, it arrives in the glass looking like something that washed in with the tide.
Want it made for you?
Reserve a table at Forest Byron Bay.