gin no. 009 – Automatic Sea Gin

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• I first had Automatic Sea Gin at Kin Khao, a Michelin Star restaurant in San Francisco.
• Sea Gin has a distinct flavor of foraged nori.
• Sadly the Oakland Spirits Co. which produced this gin is no longer in operation.

In October of 2017, I traveled to California for work. While there, I was invited to Salesforce Tower during its construction. It is hard to beat an experience like that but I did try to with a very excellent meal at Kin Khao.

On October 27, on the menu at Kin Khao, there were three gins from Oakland Spirits Co: Uptown Dry, Gin #5, and Sea Gin.  Uptown is a juniper forward London Dry.  I tried that first. It was good. Gin #5 is a Western Style Gin with strong citrus notes. That was next, also good. I realize those descriptions don’t match the menu, but trust me Uptown is the dry gin, not #5.

I had intended to skip Sea Gin, but maybe it was because I’d already had two drinks that I was willing to risk this “nori flavored” gin.  The waiter assured me that it would go great with the rabbit green curry I ordered. It did.

I know there are several nori flavored gins available now. I have tried both Grey Whale and Nautical (gin no. 019). But I have never had one so seaweed forward as Automatic Sea Gin. The distiller notes “Briny gin with foraged nori, bay sage, lemongrass, and some other stuff. Distilled from grapes.” In the end, the Sea Gin actually has an earthy flavor, as strange as that is to say. As cool as Salesforce Tower was, the rabbit and the Sea Gin were just as memorable, and so before leaving San Francisco I added Sea Gin to The Collection.

Sadly, Oakland Spirits Co. went out of business. So my bottle of Sea Gin is unlikely to be replaced. It remains one of my favorite bottles in my collection and it’s about three quarters full, so hopefully I can stretch it out a little at a time. It is 90 proof and I originally paid $33 for it, which seems pricy in 2017. At one point, this bottle was in my highly recommended category, and I do see a few places online where you can still buy it. If you are interested in trying the king of seaweed gin, go get a bottle now before they are gone.