Spirits maker Gin Mare has partnered with Salmon Guru, a Madrid bar and restaurant named one of The World’s 50 Best Bars in 2021, on a project called Ultramare, which aims to create a new range of cocktails that have been sealed in amphorae and placed at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.

The goal of this project, which is still in the research and development phase, is to study and analyze the effects of seawater submersion on the various cocktails made from Gin Mare.

“In the Ultramare project, we hope to contemplate and change the way mixology is understood by offering an innovative way to experience cocktails,” Alfonso Morodo, CEO of Vantguard (Gin Mare’s parent company), said in a news release. “We wish to highlight Gin Mare’s strong connection to the Mediterranean Sea in a very direct way by offering cocktails that are true gastronomic representations of this region.”

Under the direction of renowned bartender Diego Cabrera of Salmon Guru and marine biologist and professional diver Helena Margot, a total of 12, 3-liter sealed amphorae were submerged in a secret location in Ibiza in on September 7, 2021. Designed by local artisan Álvaro Villamañán, the amphorae were filled with three Gin Mare cocktails crafted by Cabrera: a Negroni with orange peel and basil, a dry martini with Arbequina olive and chamomile, and the “Ultramarino,” a gimlet with rhubarb and fresh oregano.

All of the vessels filled with cocktails were extracted at various points by end of 2021; while one amphora filled solely with Gin Mare will remain underwater for an entire year to be studied by Cabrera and Margot.

“It is clear that the sea had an influence on the cocktails,” Cabrera said. “There was a controlled transmission of sea salt and other minerals through the osmosis process, imparting a subtle, well-integrated hint of the Mediterranean Sea into the cocktails that is quite desirable.”

Now in its second phase, Cabrera is continuing the Ultramare project’s experimental process by submerging Gin Mare cocktails in amphorae in 50-liter tanks of seawater in a laboratory setting; aiming to replicate the conditions of the Mediterranean Sea indoors. In this laboratory dedicated to mixology, everything learned through the original endeavor is applied, and cocktails are created using the technique and knowledge of Cabrera with Gin Mare as the main ingredient.