Salt on the Rim - Yes or NO?
Apr. 19, 2011 1:22 pm
Updated: Apr. 20, 2011 8:31 am
To say my husband, Kevin, does not like salt on the rim of his cocktail is an understatement. Seriously, he just looks at the salt and his mouth purses. I, on the other hand, sometimes enjoy a little salt on the rim with my margarita. And, I’ve seen folks
at the bar ask for extra salt when they order their drink.
During a recent happy hour at
Equinox in Portland, I decided to give a few salt-rimmed cocktails a try. I searched the menu and settled on a Pomegranate Cadillac (similar to a Cadillac Margarita). After a few sips, I savor the fantastic blend of lime,
tequila and Grand Marnier. The salt takes away the sticky-sweet taste that can often be the trademark of a house margarita.
Pomegranate Cadillac
3 oz. tequila
1oz. fresh lime juice
2oz. pomegranate juice
2 oz. Grand Marnier
1 lemon
Rim a chilled martini glass with salt. Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker over ice, shake well, and strain into chilled glasses. Garnish with thin lemon slices and serve.
Next up – a Lemon Drop with a salt rim – a true salty meets sweet cocktail. If you’re one that enjoys your drink with something unusual like a cayenne pepper rim, you’ll like this one. I would say it’s best described as a “Sock-it-to-Me” type cocktail. You
can easily tone it down by going with the more traditional sugar rim.
Lemon Drop
1 oz. vodka
1oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. simple syrup
1 lemon
Rim a chilled martini glass with salt or sugar. Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker over ice, shake well, and strain into chilled glasses. Garnish with thin lemon slices and serve.
Finally, putting a salt-rimmed cocktail on its side, I finish the evening with a PPI – made with serrano pepper infused vodka and passion fruit puree. It almost killed me to order it because frankly, pepper in my drink scares me, however, the sweet was once
again balanced out by the salt. The only way to improve on this drink might be to add a float of cointreau to smooth out the slight sting of the pepper infused vodka.
So what’s your preference? Any good cocktails with salt rims you’d like to share? Go to
http://www.savinghappyhour.com
Salted rim Cocktails
