PAPA SALT
Papa Salt is an Australian coastal gin brand made by five friends who met through their work in the film industry: Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara, Tom Ackerley, Charlie Maas and Regan Riskas Maas. United by a love of gin and a shared passion for the easy-going lifestyle on Australia’s east coast, the group began working together to formulate their own gin in 2018, finally settling on the final iteration (#59) after five years of backyard experimentation.
Revealing subtle notes from native Australian botanicals – roasted wattleseed and pink peppercorn, wax flower, hibiscus and citrus peel, and finished with just a hint of minerality from oyster shell – Papa Salt is presented in a distinctive bottle designed to reflect the velvety texture of decades-old sea glass.
It won a Platinum Medal and Best Gin at the 2022 L.A. Spirits Awards before launching exclusively in the Australian market in May this year, with its first product run selling out in 48 hours.
Papa Salt is distilled at the award-winning Lord Byron Distillery – a 100% zero waste facility powered entirely by renewable energy. The co-founders say that Byron Bay was the natural choice for the brand’s production due to the region’s abundant botanical offerings and co-founder Margot Robbie’s Gold Coast upbringing.
“I always find myself telling people overseas how incredible the food and beverage scene is in Australia,” says Robbie. “I don’t think people realise just how much there is to discover here. Every time I come home, I discover a new microbrewery or boutique gin to try. I truly think Australia is producing the best gins in the world and we want our gin to sit alongside the very best. That’s why we make Papa Salt in Australia.”