It took five friends, five years and 59 versions to craft Australia’s hot new gin. We talk to Margot and her co-founders to learn more.
Every group of friends has, at one point or another, dreamed of starting a company together. Perhaps a bar, an art gallery, a boutique hotel for dogs – or some combination of the three. For most, those far-fetched fantasies inevitably fade away as real life comes knocking. But if your idea is solid and your dedication fierce, it just might be possible. For film-industry friends Margot Robbie (yes, that Margot Robbie), Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, Charlie Maas and Regan Riskas Maas, that dream was gin. And Papa Salt, in all its delicious glory, is their dream come to life.
These days, you can’t peruse the aisle of your local bottle-o without bumping into a celebrity-owned drink. That in itself is not news. What is exciting is that in the ever-increasing landscape of Australian craft gin, this group of friends has managed to create something unique. Made in Byron Bay with local botanicals, this is a gin that finds new space in a crowded market. “Australians have always had a tremendous food and drinks scene, and I think it comes down to us being more discerning consumers,” Margot tells Dan’s Daily. “The public pushes the producers to make better, more interesting products. Combine that with the wealth of amazing ingredients we have in Australia and you have a recipe for beautiful gins.” It seems the drinking public agrees – Papa Salt’s first release sold out in a mere 48 hours.
Just as unique is how genuinely involved each of the co-founders have been at every stage. This isn’t a case of slapping big names on a white-label product – their commitment to the craft is clear and they want Papa Salt to stand on its own. Yes, one of its A-list creators is Barbie herself, but this spirit is far more than that.
The brand began with the simple realisation that all five friends adored gin, yet couldn’t find one in LA they really liked. Margot and Tom (who are also husband and wife) first conjured up the idea with Josey, before pitching it to Charlie and Regan (also married). “Most friends who muse about creating a gin don’t have a friend whose family owns a distillery,” says Charlie, whose relatives have a distillery in Wisconsin. It’s here that the story of Papa Salt – named for a mysterious traveller the crew met on a beach in Sri Lanka – takes a twist from daydream to daylight.
“All five of us love gin, but we love gin in different cocktails and gins with different flavour profiles,” explains Regan. So the friends – united by their passion, vision, and distillery connection to boot – travelled down a multi-year path of discovery and distillation. The brief was to create a gin reminiscent of Australian summers, one that would shine in classic cocktails but also stand on its own with a simple soda water. The challenge was such that it took five years and 59 iterations to land on the one true mix that satisfied their diverse palates. “Five heads really were better than one, because it made the gin better,” says Josey. “We only got there by really pushing to please all five of us.”
“At one stage, we were in Tom and Margot’s backyard, and we had 100 beakers with different flavours,” Charlie reminisces. “Not only was it fun to play mad scientist, but it was also really educational about how different flavours interact. It helped focus the project on a very specific flavour profile.” Yet not every experiment was a hit. Tom recounts a sobering blind-tasting session more than a year into this process that left them all unimpressed with their own creation. “None of us liked our own gin. We literally placed it last… we had to ditch that recipe entirely and start over.” This only solidified their resolve. "It was tough because it felt like we were moving backwards, but it was the right thing to do," he admits.
Finally, on one pivotal night in London, the group gathered on a rooftop to taste recipe 59. “We tried Papa Salt and soda, Papa Salt and tonic, and all sorts of cocktails – Martinis, Negronis and Salty Dogs,” says Regan. “It really shined in different ways in each drink, and we realised then that we had accomplished our goal. We had made a modern, versatile gin that celebrates Australian botanicals – and one we were keen to drink ourselves.”
Its final form is a symphony of native botanicals like roasted wattleseed, pink peppercorn, wax flower, hibiscus and citrus peel. Most intriguing, however, is the coastal touch of oyster shell, which adds a mouth-watering hit of salty minerality. “We love the idyllic notion of a perfect beach day, and when we conveyed that to our distiller he suggested that we try using oyster in the botanical mix. Not only did that provide a minerality that we really love, it's also something that's only possible in a gin,” says Margot. A rich, round finish speaks to its exceptional quality, bolstered by the striking aqua-blue bottle that looks and feels like sea glass smoothed by years of rolling tides. For a gin designed as an ode to laid-back Australian summers, it couldn’t nail the assignment more.
Although Margot is the only Australian of the group, Papa Salt is a distinctly Australian gin in both its flavour and production. Charlie’s family helped guide them in the early days, and though the easy option would have been to work with their distillery, the only place to make a gin like Papa Salt was Australia. So, the team enlisted the help of award-winning, family-owned Lord Byron Distillery in Byron Bay – a spot Margot had visited years earlier for a gin-making course.
Papa Salt’s base is made from Queensland sugarcane (most Aussie gins are made from wheat or grain spirit) and all the ingredients are locally sourced except for the juniper, which doesn’t traditionally grow in Australia – “although some intrepid farmers are working to change that,” adds Margot. The team relies on Lord Byron’s head distiller Brian Restall to source locally grown, native Australian ingredients – a few are even picked from Brian’s own farm. “Brian and his team run a 100% zero-waste distillery, using only renewable energy,” says Margot. “We trust them to constantly search for solutions that are better for the planet, even as we scale up.”
Picking up a Platinum Medal at the LA Spirits Awards was more than a pat on the back; it was a testament to their commitment and a signal to the world that Papa Salt is here to be taken seriously. “It was the first external validation that we were on the right path,” says Charlie. “For years we had only sampled the gin among ourselves, and you never know if you’ve actually gotten it right.”
As for how best to enjoy Papa Salt, the opportunities vary as widely as the co-founders’ personalities. From Josey’s penchant for White Negronis to Margot’s gin and soda garnished with an orange rind and crack of black pepper, or Tom’s Classic Martini (straight up with an olive) to Regan’s gin twist on a Paloma, there’s a Papa Salt serve for everyone. We advise you try it on its own first and let its superb quality sparkle.
Papa Salt is not just another gin striding over-confidently onto the Australian gin scene. It’s not even just another celebrity gin. This is a standout take on sustainable native flavours, a spirit that’s already winning high industry praise, and a glimmer of hope for any of us who’ve ever dreamed of starting a company with friends.
