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Three people bent over the flats at low tide, picking plants at dusk

Ocracoke Island, North Carolina

Calder & Brine

We make gin on Ocracoke from samphire, sea lavender and bayberry we pick on the flats at low tide.

Book a tasting

Ocracoke is sixteen miles of sand you can only reach by ferry. We moved here in 2019 to make one gin that tastes like the place, and it’s still just the two of us, Ellis and Nora, and one copper still.

From the shore to the still

Salt marsh plants on the edge of the flats at low tide

Twice a month

We go out at low tide

We walk the flats behind the island at the lowest tides and pick samphire, sea lavender and bayberry by hand. We only take what will grow back before the next spring tide.

A juniper branch with ripe blue berries

Every spring

Juniper from the mainland

The juniper comes from a farm in Hyde County, an hour on the ferry. We've bought it from the same family since our first batch.

Two copper pot stills in a whitewashed still house

Nine hours a batch

One copper pot still

Everything runs through one 300 litre pot still. We taste every batch as it runs and decide by mouth, not by a timer, when the good part starts and stops.

Rows of barrels in a dim warehouse

Three weeks later

Rested, then bottled by hand

The gin rests for three weeks before we bottle it, label it and number it at the long table in the back.

What goes in

Five plants and some lemon peel. Four of them grow within a few miles of the still, and we pick them ourselves.

  • Juniper

    The backbone. Piney, a little resinous.

  • Samphire

    Gives it the salt. We pick the tips in early summer.

  • Sea lavender

    Dry and floral, more like hay than perfume.

  • Bayberry

    The soft, waxy finish. Islanders used it for candles.

  • Yaupon

    The island's holly. Grassy, with a touch of green tea.

A gin and tonic with a twist of lemon on a wooden bar

The gin

Low Tide Gin

44% ABV, 750 ml, about 400 bottles a batch

Salt and pine come first, then lemon. The bayberry gives it a soft, waxy finish that stays a while.

We drink it with a plain tonic and a strip of lemon peel, and that’s how we pour it in the tasting room. It’s good in a martini too, if you like them on the savory side.

$42a bottle at the distillery. We don’t ship yet.

Come and taste it

Where
Off Back Road in Ocracoke Village, behind the old net house
When
Thursday to Sunday, 1 pm to 7 pm. Closed in January.
Tastings
$15 for three pours and a walk past the still. About 45 minutes.
Getting here
The free ferry from Hatteras runs all day and takes an hour. We’re a ten minute walk from the dock.
Book a tastingor call Nora on (252) 555 0136