Look at this magnificent structure!
This incredible thorn tower is the first and only tower to be built in the UK and the only thorn tower in the WORLD to produce salt!
Blackthorn have revived the ancient Graduation Thorn Tower technique by gathering
seawater, then letting it trickle gently down and through a large wall of thorns packed with
bundles of blackthorn. These first stages rely only on the forces of nature; the sun, wind and sea.
Unlike any other salt, the Blackthorn Salt flavour profile retains a strong, confident saline echo of the sea,
Blackthorn salt has a certain depth and mellowness with a natural echo of the sea
natural
Blackthorn salt is unique!
chefs and restaurants – such as the Fife
Arms, Garry McLean and James Golding of The Pig Hotel Group as well as many others
– have already chosen to experiment with Blackthorn, using it to finish off a bespoke
cheese, incorporate into specialist charcutarie, add detailed taste notes to intracte
deserts and cocktails, allowing it to delve deep into the marbleing of aged beef and for
floating on gaspacho as well as using Blackthorn as their overall finishing salt.
Everyday we look for more ways to lessen our environmental footprint and we are
proud that our Thorn Tower method evaporates 90% of the seawater – purely due to
the wind and sun working their magic – and uses 85% less energy than the usual
applied heating methods. When the concentration of the remaining liquid is salty
enough, we gently warm it in the panhouse to draw off the crystals by hand: it is a
patient process – all about making the best we can.
Blackthorn is proud to have brought salt making back home to the West Coast of
Scotland where it was once such a thriving local industry. Our methods and means
may be very different from our forebearers’, but we would like to think they would be
proud and amazed by everything that is Blackthorn Salt today. We also look the future
and are always striving to improve. We are particularly proud of our plastic-free wee
box: the perfect size for dipping your hand in, it also ensures that the precious salt is
kept dust free and stored attractively after opening. Our ethos is always to be the best
we can be, absolutely in terms of taste, but also crystal quality – that ‘crucial crunch
factor’ – and in our attitudes and methods.
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