Every cook knows the importance of having seasoning on hand for all the dishes they make, and here’s a secret for making great cocktails — the same is true for your drinks. As bizarre as it may sound, two additions to take your cocktails from good to great are something you surely have in your kitchen anyway, salt and pepper.
Salt works in a cocktail just like it does in food, enhancing other flavors and bringing out nuance. I love to add a sprinkle of salt to herbal drinks like a gin basil smash or to agave-based drinks like a margarita. And black pepper adds a spicy, hot note to a drink that goes perfectly with sweet fruits like strawberries, elevating your strawberry daiquiris or your spicier
While you can simply grind your seasoning directly into your drinks, it’ll combine better if you create a liquid version beforehand. To make saline solution, you just need to dissolve 1 part salt in 4 parts water. It’ll be easier if you heat up the water in a pan on the stove and then stir in the salt, to make sure it’s all properly dissolved. Once the solution has cooled you can bottle it and keep it at your home bar for easy addition to your
As for black pepper, you can add a grind of pepper to your drinks which already have a lot of texture, like a gin & tonic with bunches of garnishes like celery sticks, cucumber slices, and olives. But the crunchy texture can be strange in some smoother
To make a pepper tincture, just crack some black pepper and put it in a small jar, then cover with a high abv spirit like Everclear or high proof vodka. Leave the mixture somewhere out of direct sunlight for a few days to a week, then strain out the pepper using cheesecloth and keep the tincture on hand.
Both the saline solution and the pepper tincture are very strong, so you need only a few drops of each. You can either keep them in a dropper bottle, or add them careful using a bar spoon, adding no more than half a spoonful at a time until you get the flavor addition you’re looking for.
