Get Tom Opie’s Hunter Valley inspired recipe for Earth & Rain

The Waratah is firmly rooted in a sense of place. Opening at the end of 2023, last month they released the second edition of their cocktail menu upstairs (the downstairs list of three changes each week). Whereas for the opening list they drew upon producers from the far north of Australia — and in part due to the difficulty of sourcing small grower produce from so far away — they have visited the Hunter Valley, about two hours north of Sydney, to gather inspiration and produce for volume two.

Like in this drink from bartender Tom Opie, called Earth & Rain.

“The Hunter Valley is a unique microclimate,” Opie says. “If you go to one of the vineyards like Margan, you’ll find that there’s clay soil in one spot, and 20 metres from that is sandy soil. They have this really hot, humid climate, with all these different types of soils. And in the morning in the bowl of the Hunter Valley, because of this humidity, there’ll be this lovely fog that hangs over the grapes.

“So this drink is made to mimic that quality of the weather there. I took what I smelled when I was in the Hunter Valley to make the drink: it’s earthy, the beetroot has geosmin, which has an earthy quality, like rain and mushrooms. Geosmin is what plants release before it rains — it makes it easier for them to consume water.”

Earth & Rain

60ml beetroot vermouth
15ml Rye
5ml Laophraig
5ml Fig Vinegar
5ml Soy/Mushroom sizzup
Stir
Geosmin

Earth Distillate: 500ml Lions Mane Brine + bottle of River Flat caramelised soy (250ml, B1), 50% caster sugar. Dilute to 1.2L with water. Reduce in pot until bubbling big time caramel. Deglaze with coconut oil, pour into 700ml of Red Mill Rum. Freeze.

Strain next day.

Redistill at 45 degrees, 40mbar (dipping mbar by 10 every 2 minutes). There should be a soy caramel left over in the flask, keep this.

Beet Wine:

Blitz or juice 1kg of ripe beetroot. Add 25% wild honey and ferment for 10 days, stirring and plunging everyday. Rack liquid into secondary carboy and pitch gamay yeast.

Beet Vermouth: Fortify beetroot vinegar with Saison Rhubarb vermouth and soy distillate. (2:2:1, 50%, 25%, 25%).

Fig/coconut vinegar:

Combine 1 litre of coconut water, 1 litre of white wine and 500mls of honey syrup in a jar. Cut up 10 figs and add to jar. Add 100ml of Rose Vinegar and 200ml of mother vinegar (backslop). Add mother. Cover jar with cheesecloth. Ferment for 2 weeks until delicious, coconutty, tropical but with a nice acid line.

Strain. Heat for 20 minutes on a low heat, in a pan to blow some acetic acid off. Good to go!”