The theme for this year’s Australia Day Cocktail celebrates our island nation and the flavours of the sea.
As seen on Botanical Beverages: My Segment on Gardening Australia
The cocktail derives its name from a phrase in Advance Australia Fair, Australia’s National Anthem. “Our home is girt by sea”, means surrounded by the sea, where the archaic word girt means to surround or encircle.
The Girt By Sea cocktail celebrates the beautiful Australian beaches that are ingrained in our lifestyle, whether it’s the taste of salt on the lips after a morning ocean swim, the scent of fresh seaweed carried by the gentle ocean breeze, or the simple pleasure of enjoying fish and chips with warm sand between the toes.
Making use of all-Australian ingredients, the savoury and briny cocktail captures the flavour of the sea. Australian vodka is infused with samphire, a sea succulent with a distinctive briny taste. Australian native finger limes (also known as citrus caviar) impart a bright citrus note. A savoury and tangy tomato and Australian native pepperberry shrub (refer to recipe here) is made with malt vinegar, an ingredient used to season fish and chips. Kelp oil adds a hint of iodine and the sea salt flakes brighten all the flavours.
Girt By Sea is a burst of maritime umami flavours. It is served up with an ice sphere and has the colour of sand at sunrise or sunset.
Australia Day Cocktail Recipe: Girt By Sea
Original recipe created by Cocktails & Bars
Ingredients
- 60 ml samphire-infused Australian vodka*
- ¼ finger lime, vesicles only
- 10 ml tomato and Australian native pepperberry shrub
- dash of sea salt flakes
- 3 drops of kelp oil**
For Samphire-Infused Vodka
- 60 ml Australian vodka
- 2 samphire strands
For Kelp Oil
- 4 g dried kelp, broken into small pieces
- 40 ml vegetable oil
Glassware: coupette
Garnish: three drops of kelp oil
Method
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the samphire-infused vodka with the finger lime vesicles. Add the tomato shrub, ice cubes and shake hard until well chilled. Double strain in a chilled coupette with an ice sphere, add a dash of sea salt flakes and float three drops of kelp oil on top.
*For the samphire-infused vodka, combine 60 ml Australian vodka and two samphire strands in a glass jar with a lid and leave to infuse for 2-3 days. Fine strain into a clean glass jar.
**To make the kelp oil, gently heat the oil in a small pan at low temperature and add the pieces of dried kelp. Stir gently on low heat for 5 minutes making sure the oil doesn’t bubble or boil. Leave to cool completely then pour the oil and kelp pieces into a wide mouth jar and secure the lid. Leave to infuse for 2-3 days at room temperature. Strain using a fine strainer lined with a cheese cloth and store the kelp oil in a clean glass jar.
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