If you order a margarita, chances are you're going to be asked two questions: Frozen, or
on the rocks?
And salt, or no salt?
While we're not going to get into the whole debate about whether frozen margaritas are
authentic or not…
"This place uses too much ice."
…you should, unless you're on a strict low-sodium diet, always say yes when asked if you want
a margarita with a salted rim.
Why?
Because the salt is actually a fundamental, flavor-boosting part of this classic drink.
While the origin story of the margarita cocktail is a bit unclear, its original ingredients
have remained pretty consistent - tequila, orange liqueur, lime or sometimes lemon juice,
and a salted rim.
Yes, the salted rim was part of the very first margarita recipes, and for a good reason - the
sodium ion in the salt molecule has the effect of dampening bitter tastes.
What this means for your margarita is that a salted rim helps to counteract any bitterness
from the orange liqueur or the tequila, which, in turn, enhances both the drink's sweet and
sour notes.
"That lemonade is insane."
"That's because it's a margarita."
What's more, the taste of salt somehow enhances our sense of smell, which makes the cocktail
seem to have a more powerful taste.
Salt also increases the flow of saliva, making the margarita quite literally mouthwatering.
Salt even has the ability to soften the tequila's sometimes harsh bite - which means, if you're
ordering a margarita made with bottom-shelf tequila, you definitely shouldn't skip the
salt.
Although you can purchase fancy glass-rimming kits, these really aren't necessary.
In order to salt a margarita rim properly, all you're really going to need is a dish,
some salt, a lime, and a knife.
Next, cut your lime into quarters, then take one of the quarters and cut a notch in the
middle.
Place the notched lime on the rim of the glass, and run it all the way around.
Then, pour some salt into the dish, and dip the glass into the salt.
Twist it around until there's salt sticking to all of the lime juice, all around the rim
of the glass.
If you prefer not to have any salt on the inside of your glass rim, you can use the
method we described, but make sure to dip your glass into the salt at an angle and roll
it around so that only the outside rim touches the salt.
And should you be making margaritas for a crowd, perhaps pre-salting the rims of a large
number of glasses prior to pouring margaritas from a pitcher - well, in that case, you can
skip the lime wedges and just juice a couple of limes to use for rim-dipping.
What kind of salt should you use?
Well, The Cookful conducted a taste test using three types of commonly-available salt to
rim three different margarita glasses.
The least satisfying results were achieved with table salt, which didn't look too pretty,
clumped up badly, and resulted in a margarita with an overwhelmingly salty taste.
Verdict: skip this stuff.
The very best results, in appearance as well as flavor, came from using flaky sea salt,
but this type of salt can be pretty pricey.
Since glass-rimming is a process that tends to waste a lot of salt, The Cookful bloggers
decided that it wasn't worth using flaky sea salt on a regular basis for this.
The overall winner, with results that looked and tasted almost as good as sea salt for
a fraction of the price, was good old kosher salt, which just so happens to be the kind
that most margarita recipes call for.
If you really want to fancy up your margarita, you can experiment with using a flavored salt
to garnish the glass rim.
You could even mix things up and add lemon zest, lime zest, or even rosemary to the salt
- or, if you want to get spicy, you could even add sriracha or dried habanero.
Get as creative as you like, as long as you keep the salt.
It's not just there for decoration - salt really is an integral part of the whole margarita
experience.
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