Salt on the Rim – Cocktails & Salt

Adding salt on the rim of a glass plays a key role in a number of popular cocktails and shooters, such as the Margarita cocktail and the Salty Dog. Salt can be used not just as a garnish, but as a key element to take away the bite of the alcohol. When rimming a cocktail glass with salt there is a best practice to make sure you get top points for your salt on the rim presentation skills.

Tequila Shots are particularly popular for, in the words of the pop singer Pink “getting a party started!” The act of taking a pinch of salt before a shot of Tequila apparently originated in Mexico, the home of Tequila. Mexicans have long known that a little sodium chloride on the tongue can help to mollify the fiery flavor that characterizes much of their food and they simply applied the same practice to Tequila shots, which was much more fiery than the brands we are accustomed to today. The accompanying wedge of lemon is meant to balance and enhance the flavour of the tequila.

The standard practice of drinking Tequila Shots is as follows:

• Wet the back of your hand below the index finger and pour on the salt
• Lick the salt off your hand
• Drink back the tequila
• Quickly bite the lemon wedge

Margaritas are possibly the most well-known cocktails for their association with salt, due to their famous salt-coated rims. The coated rim gives the Margarita cocktail much greater presentation value plus, similar to the tequila shot , the salt helps to take the fiery bite out of the tequila and the bitter citrus flavour out of the drink. The Salty Dog cocktail, which we profile below, also uses a salt rim for similar reasons. Salt also plays a key ingredient in the popular Bloody Mary cocktail, and its many variations, to accentuate the flavour and taste of the abundance of ingredients that go in to making this complex mixed drink.

How to Prepare Salt on the Rim

What you will need:

•  A glass (standard cocktail glass, margarita glass etc)
• Two Saucers
• Liquid (this will typically be citrus juice or water, depending on the cocktail)
• Salt (coarse sea salt or kosher salt is best)

Method:

1. Place 2 tablespoons of liquid in first saucer.
2. In second saucer, place 2 tablespoons of salt.
3. Holding the glass by its stem, carefully tip it toward the first saucer at about a 45-degree angle.
4. Dip the glass into the juice, rotating the glass through the juice so that only the outer edge of the rim becomes moist. Be sure to moisten about a quarter inch of the rim.
5. Repeat the process with the glass in the second saucer, coating the outer lip of the glass in salt.
6. At this point you can then tidy up the rim using a bar napkin for maximum presentation marks.

 

Here we look at one of the most famous salt rimmed cocktails, The Salty Dog cocktail:

 

Cocktail Ingredients

50 ml Vodka, 20 ml Dry Sherry, 37 1/2 ml Grapefruit Juice, 15 ml Sugar Syrup, Salt, Grapefruit Zest

How to make a Salty Dog cocktail

Prep a margarita glass by dipping half the rim in salt. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice for about 10 seconds. Double strain into the salted glass. Zest the top of the drink with some grapefruit.