Skip to main content

The One Ingredient That Will Make Your Cocktails Go from Oh to Oh Damn

To food scientists and gourmands alike, this is going to come as nothing new—salt works wonders when it comes to enhancing flavors in meals. It helps to bring other flavors to the forefront while working to suppress others. You probably already see where this is going. You can use salt to do the same things in your cocktails—rocketing their flavors to new levels of awesome with this tiny touch.

You heard me, right. Salt. Sal, sale, sel. Whatever you call it, use it.

Salt, when added to other ingredients, has been proven to suppress bitter flavors while bringing into sharper focus sweet and sour flavors. (Check out this Science Focus piece for more information on why it does.) It has also been shown to increase saliva production, which helps in creating mouthfeel for food and drink.

In cocktails, this means that using salt or saline solution will dramatically change how your cocktails that use bitters taste (think of the Angostura bitters in a Manhattan or the citrus in a Margarita). By adding just a few grains of salt or, better yet, a few drops of saline solution, a flavor profile that would otherwise not be present appears in your drink. It may not work in every drink, but just like in cooking, experiment a little and you’ll find out soon enough when it does and doesn’t.

Trying to convince someone that they should be drinking a certain cocktail, but it’s too bitter? It won’t be exactly the same, but add some salt and take those baby steps to proving you’re right. Know your gal like sweeter cocktails, but you refuse to keep sweet tart flavored vodka in your house? I think you can see where this is going.

Still don’t believe me? Try this simple cocktail made with Cynar, an artichoke-flavored liqueur:


Ingredients
:

3 oz. Cynar

3-4 drops saline solution

Method: Pour Cynar over ice, add salt solution and stir.

Editors' Recommendations

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
A chef gives us the secret key ingredient to make perfect fried chicken (and the one step most people get wrong!)
The secret to perfect fried chicken is simpler than you think
Fried chicken

Beautifully executed fried chicken is, perhaps, one of the few perfect things we get to have as human beings. Its warm, crispy, decadently crunchy crust with a hot and steamy, sinfully juicy, rich, and savory center is enough to make most grown men weep with pure joy. This classic dish is arguably one of the most important staples of American cuisine, and the pressure to get it right can be intense. The good news is, no one knows how to make fried chicken better than Chef Trevor Stockton, of The Restaurant at RT Lodge, and he graciously agreed to be our guide with a few of his best tips.

Chef Stockton shared with us the secret to perfect fried chicken, and the answer is a simple one. "The most important thing, other than using a quality chicken, is using quality buttermilk," he said, adding that he uses Cruze Farm Dairy buttermilk, which is churned and not homogenized. "If you can get your hands on real churned buttermilk, it will give you nice tender chicken because it still has all of its original qualities. We season our chicken very simply and then cover it with the Cruze Farm buttermilk for a minimum of 24 hours."

Read more
Costco sells a semi-secret McDonald’s ingredient that will make your next burger stand out
Simple, effective - and you can put 'em on any burger
WARSAW, POLAND - SEPTEMBER 16, 2022: Woman with McDonald's burger at table in cafe, closeup

If you enjoy cooking, you probably pride yourself on making a delicious, homemade burger. A burger made with loving care, gently topped with thoughtfully prepared ingredients like grilled onions, carefully selected lettuces and cheeses, perhaps complemented with homemade garlic aioli, on a buttery, toasted bun. These burgers are the ones we love to show off at a family cookout, the ones our kids grow up comparing all other homemade burgers to. The ones that go perfectly with corn on the cob, fireworks, and a cold one.

And then there are the fast food burgers we also love. These are the burgers we rely on after a long day. The ones that are always there for us during a late-night craving or post-soccer practice dinner enjoyed from the backseat. These burgers also have a big place in our hearts for entirely different yet equally important reasons.

Read more
Healthy eating on a budget: 9 tips for making your groceries go further
You don't have to choose between eating healthy and paying bills
Healthy foods and groceries

Despite our best intentions, healthy eating is not always quite as easy as it sounds. Even after learning how to eat healthy, implementing a healthy diet takes consistency and patience to sustain. Not to mention, the rising grocery costs can make grocery shopping stressful, and working within a strict budget can make it even more difficult to eat healthy.

Though it may seem impossible, healthy eating on a budget is possible. Explore these helpful meal prep, grocery shopping, and food storage tips to make a healthy diet on a budget both realistic and sustainable. If you've asked yourself "How can I eat the healthiest food?" but don't want to break the bank, these tips are for you.

Read more