Lava Salt – Metal Tin

Lava Salt, Iceland's black flakes for grand appearances

Nordur Salt's Lava Salt dyes geothermally produced sea salt flakes deep black with coconut-derived activated charcoal – a tribute to Iceland's volcanoes. Mild in taste, dramatic on light-colored plates, in a metal tin featuring a mermaid.

Nordur Salt's Lava Salt is the saltworks' homage to its home: Iceland, the land of volcanoes, geysers, and black beaches. Crunchy sea salt flakes from the Breiðafjörður are dyed deep black with activated charcoal from coconuts – the flakes remain mild and clear in taste, while visually becoming lava on the plate.

Black as Iceland's beaches, mild as its flakes

The activated charcoal changes almost nothing about the taste – and that is exactly the trick: beneath the dramatic color, it delivers the same fine, geothermally produced crunch as the white original. Using Lava Salt means seasoning mildly while creating a powerful visual impact.

It is produced on the small island of Karlsey off Reykhólar using Iceland’s traditional 1753 technique, powered solely by heat from the earth – a salt that carries its volcanic aesthetic and originates energetically from it. In black and white: here, the story matches the color.

The black flakes are also created through the 70-degree geothermal rhythm: first, the slow boiling on Karlsey, then the coconut-derived activated charcoal, which evenly coats each flake. You are getting authentic Icelandic salt flakes in black – not dyed grains, but craftsmanship with a color shift.

Light plates and bold desserts

Lava Salt thrives on contrast: on a light fish fillet, a boiled egg, burrata with olive oil, or a scallop, the black flakes look deliberate. Avocado toast, cauliflower steaks, and light soups also receive a performance with just a few flakes that no other spice can achieve.

And then there's dessert: white chocolate, vanilla ice cream, panna cotta – a few black flakes on top, and the dessert becomes a statement. Playing with surprise always works: guests expect drama and taste mildness. Those who prefer to stay classic can reach for the white sea salt flake tin from the same house.

By the way, when it comes to photography, Lava Salt is the secret star of the family: on light-colored tableware, the black flakes look drawn on – for those who enjoy photographing plates, you are sprinkling subjects here. Cook, sprinkle, snap: seasoning has rarely been so photogenic – and so grateful for every light piece of tableware still waiting for its moment in the cupboard.

From the saltworks on Karlsey

Nordur Salt was founded in 2012 by two friends – Icelander Garðar Stefánsson and Dane Søren Rosenkilde, who met in Aarhus and decided to produce the best salt. The Breiðafjörður provides the water, the earth the energy, and Iceland the inspiration.

The metal tin with the watchful mermaid is part of the Red Dot Award-winning design from 2014: it keeps the fragile black flakes dry and intact and can be refilled again and again after the last crumb is gone – a small piece of Iceland for the kitchen counter.

You can find more colors and shapes in our salt flakes category, and all five Icelandic varieties on the Nordur Salt page. Want a volcano? A pinch is enough – and the plate has its big, deep-black entrance, completely without an ash cloud!