Seawater is pumped to the top of a thorn tower on the coast at Ayr and trickles down through blackthorn branches until its salinity climbs from three and a half per cent to about twenty two, then the brine goes next door to the pan house and is boiled until pyramid crystals form. Gregorie Marshall trained as an architect, drew the tower after looking at the old graduation towers of Germany and Poland, and hand-harvested the first batch on 20 June 2019.
Blackthorn Salt.
producer · Ayr, South Ayrshire · Scotland, not Glasgow
What they make
- Pyramid sea salt flakes. Hollow crystals off the pan, about 94 per cent sodium chloride, which is where the rest of the minerals stay.
Also sold off the list
These shops and counters carry it, and none of them is on the list.
- cooked with at Julie's Kopitiam, Pollokshaws Road, Shawlands
“Julie's Kopitiam, which is located on Pollokshaws Road in Shawlands”
Scottish Daily Express, 5 January 2023 [4]
Sources & mentions
- [1]National Geographic Traveller (UK), Lucy Gillmore, 18 January 2022
“Seawater, pumped to the top of the tower, trickles slowly down through the blackthorn branches, the increased surface area created by the thorns accelerating the evaporation process. The cycle is repeated until the salinity of the water has risen from 3.5% to about 22%.”
“Gregorie - who originally trained as an architect - drew up plans for a similar structure, to produce sea salt, and with the help of a structural engineer and local craftsmen, in 2019 it was ready.”
- [2]Blackthorn Salt, on its first harvest
“on 20th June 2019, the very first mini batch of Blackthorn Salt crystals was hand harvested.”
- [3]Ayrshire Today, on the second tower
“about 6,000 blackthorn bushes”
- [4]