Getting Started - Adding Salt To Cocktails
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ม.ค. 2017
- Salt has long been used by bakers and chefs to temper bitter flavors while enhancing sweet and citrus notes. Here's how your cocktail can benefit from a pinch of salt.
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this channel is both class and classy
The audio quality has improved since the French 75 video. Much more pleasant; well done.
Ahhh, now *this* is the kind of content I'm always hoping for. I've used salt in my cocktails from time to time as a "flavor enhancer", and often to good effect. But I never really understood fully the specific effect as you describe here, enhancing sour and sweet flavors while helping to soften bitter ones (the latter effect I was particularly unaware of). Very cool. And of course the saline solution approach makes perfect sense with hands that are often wet, as you say. Good stuff!
Oshyan Greene:
It's not so much enhancing the sour and sweet, as it is inhibiting the bitter flavor from even registering. So, the sweet and sour just tastes more for the lack of the other.
If you sub vodka for water in the 20/80 saline solution, add some ice, and garnish with a cocktail onion, you've got yourself a Cincinnati Salt Lick a.k.a. my favorite cocktail.
It is a bit salty and so, I think it is usually turned into a shot which ends up being similar to a pickle back shot with a kick. I think the actual drink comes a few towns over from Salt Lick, KY where they may add something to cut the saltiness.
Chakraen355 an onion sized pickled onion
That actually sounds really good.
🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🥴
Bro this is so weird. I’m a skater and I’ve been subscribed to your channel for years. I literally learnt to kick flip from your tutorial and now I’m a bartender and I find you in this completely different part of TH-cam. Very odd to me 😂
Love the aesthetic of music,just the best fit as there is in all your videos
Great information, Nick, and good technique suggestion on making the saline solution. Thanks!
I'am definitely gonna try this. As always thanks for the tutorial.
Love this channel so much, I'm only 19 but like all college students, I've got my ways to get alcohol. I always save up and buy stuff to make the drinks you show us! It's a blast
I just tried it with campari, as shown in the video.
Unbelievable, how is this not a more widely known technique?
Really nice video. Thanks a lot for sharing! I also would suggest using your favourite salt for a saline solution. Maldon Sea Salt is my absolutely favourite.
Makes perfect sense surprised no one thought of this earlier!
It took me a while to remember to try this, but it really does work. I made a classic (equal parts) Negroni with Bloom gin, Antica Formula vermouth (sweet Jesus, get yourselves a bottle of this!) & Campari. Before I iced/garnished it, I tried it both before & then after adding two drops of the saline, as per Nick’s video. I expected a minimal difference at best, but it really does make a huge & positive change to the drink. It’s still bitter, no doubt, but it’s less aggressive. It also makes the sweetness of the cocktail more rounded, somehow almost more savoury. It’s hard to describe, but please give it a go, it’s given the humble Negroni a massive boost.
Great video idea and definitely an important aspect that we never really think about when making cocktails :) It would be cool if you made a video for each flavor (sweet, sour, bitter, salt, and savory) and really going into detail with them all. And maybe also a video on egg whites and maybe thickening agents such as xantham gum or gomme arabic?
I just tried adding just the tiniest amount of salt to an Old Fashioned - My new "usual" since finding your channel - And holy SH*T was it good. It's very surprising but it was amazing. Never would have thought of that on my own, so... Thank you Nick!
Thanks a lot for this trick ! I always searched "salted" cocktails, at first I discovered the bloody mary and others with tomato juice, there is also gin / pickles cocktails, dirty martini, salted bikini (don't try this one), michelada (beer and tomato juice) but adding salt in any sour cocktail seem very interesting, I'll try it in my next drink !
love the content. keep it up
Loving the idea
For those wondering about shelf life of that saline solution: Speaking as an analytical chemist, keep it sealed and you could keep it for about a month (fridge or room temp) before bacteria starts developing and could skunk your drink a bit. If you were to add some high-proof alcohol to make the saline solution about 20-25% alcohol, it could keep for well over a year in a sealed glass container. Perhaps the author of these videos (Nick, +Cocktail Chemistry) would be able to comment on whether this would affect the drink to add 20-25% alcohol via a few drops to a drink or shot?
Thanks for the insight. Yes adding a touch of vodka is a common practice for homemade simple syrups and would be a good idea here as well
If longevity is a concern, it seems to me that the best solution would be to include the salt in your simple syrup recipe (not too much salt though!) as those tend to keep extremely well and most home bartenders make their own anyway. You could have "salted" and "unsalted" syrups (just like butter) depending on what's needed for the cocktail in question.
What if you use distilled water? Any issues then? Where would the bacteria come from unless you contaminated it?
I just want to make a comment here...
I'm a microbiologist so I do % mass over volume every days... when doing %m/v the volume is not combined into gram, especially if your solvant is water. The quantity of ml you put in it is separate from the mass of the salt you put in, therefore 20g of salt in 100ml of water is 20 PER cent. The quantity you have put is 20g per 80ml or 1 part salt for 4 part water, making it a 25% solution, not a 20% solution.
Stephen G it's a 25% solution, but the liquid is 20% salt. your getting caught up in semantics.
@ Stephen G The concentration of the solution he made is 20 wt% or 25 m/v % period.
If you don't specify, which he didn't, you are talking about a weight percentage so 20%
But as a chemist Im always aware of the fact that most biologists got stuck in 9th grade chemistry.
Take it easy, genius. Saline solutions are expressed in grams per cent (100ml). You are correct though, he didnt specify, he just gave a recipe.
JohnKearney while this is true, adding 80ml of water to 20g of salt would still only leave you 80ml - albeit 80ml of liquid which weighs 100g. But if you're talking grams per 100ml that would be 25.
I agree though - it's splitting hairs...
Stephen G I knew someone like myself from a science background was going to call this out lol 😂
Grapefruit juice, Vodka, Lillet rosé. Stirred, Longdrink glass with Ice. Add Salt on top. Its perfect.
If you add that pinch of salt to your "Perfect Margarita" (as I do), I think you'll find that you can cut back a little on the agave syrup and achieve an even better balance of tanginess (sour) with the tequila. Try it
My mouth is watering just thinking about the sour/salty combo 😂
I just think about drinking that saline solution and shiver
This is a great idea thanks! :) I never thought of making a saline solution for cocktails just like making a simple syrup.
Also, which lounge in SF are we going to that plays this kind of music? 🙃 haha
I just discovered this, salt actually makes the cocktails more refreshing.
I noticed that you used Iodised salt. The iodine will effect flavor so I would suggest kosher salt. Since your weighing it you can use it the same.
For those of us without kitchen scales, what would be the volume ratio(for iodised/kosher, or can you just kinda eyeball it?
Great Video!
Is there any benefit to adding a drop of the saline solution to neat pours like a floral scotch or whiskey? Sweet liquors I can see an obvious benefit.
awesome video. Will you do the classic daiquiri? Thank you!
Yes, likely soon
Brilliant!
how would you calculate the drop in a percentage way to it can be added to huge amounts of base cocktail quantities?
Can this be scaled up for a high volume bar by adding the saline solution (or just the salt) to the bottles of lime juice and lemon juice ahead of time? Can it also be done with syrups? Purees? Spirits? Does it separate and need a shake or two?
have you experimented with monosodium glutamate?
it should enhance the flavors bit differently. I never tried, I'm just curious.
Read about using salt in cocktails in the book "Liquid Intelligence". Need to try it! Would love you to make a video of some sort of nitro/blender-muddling - Really enhancing the color of a specific ingredient in a cocktail. (See page 165 in Liquid Intelligence)
Cheers
Saved my life!
i like how you say bitters.
how do I make salt?
seems like a cool cocktail
Has anyone tried this in the whiskey sour? I feel like that would be pretty tasty
Nick, here's a tip. Try a drop of Soy sauce instead. It adds salt and Umami.
That actually sounds interesting, but it only goes well with some drinks. Have you actually tried it? What did you like it with?
I know it's not a cocktail but would a tiny bit of salt benefit something like a Smirnof Sours?
Beautiful
Love the videos?
Was interested in how long the solution could keep and saw some sites saying saline should only be kept for a max of 24H, due to risk of bacteria growth. Your thoughts?
It will last well beyond 24 hours. As suggested by someone else in these comments, you can add a touch of vodka to further extend the shelf life. Though I haven't experimented with it specifically
dat shot of campari. Bittah..!!!!
does this work with beer or only spirits?
Is that San Juan Island Sea Salt that I see?
Awesome video, as always. I have never thought of this aspect before. Is there a jaw dropping way to integrate the process of "salination" into the mixing process? It seems rather boring and unimpressive to just drop it into the drink. Thanks :D
This is more about flavor enhancement than presentation, but don't let me stop you from experimenting!
Yes, make a salt foam or "salt air". For example: www.washingtonian.com/2007/10/01/how-to-make-oyamels-salt-air-topped-margaritas/
Do you recomend to add the saline before shaking/stiring or to drop in to the finished cocktail?
Add it before you shake
Now I remember putting a pinch of salt in the orange juice to make it sweeter...
Are you doing Cocktail Chemistry full time or do you have a full time job during the day and make videos at night? I'm a fan of your videos and I was just curious.
It's the latter
Cocktail Chemistry I'm gonna take a guess and say you are an insurance agent or in some form of sales. How close am I?
Nope :)
Could you blind test the 2 shots ? It's surprising that only 1 drop does a difference
Would a gin & tonic benefit from a touch of salt?
It should, yes. Give it a try and let me know how it goes
That's kosher salt right? I would think the iodine messes with the alcohol.
Just a note, but you kinda went back and forth between using sour and bitter, but they're sort of opposites of one another. Things that are sour are acidic (and based around dilute hydrochloric acid), and things that are bitter are basic (based around dilute quinine).
Hmm, not quite following. Salt will enhance sweet and citrus notes, but temper bitter flavors. As such it works well in a sour cocktail, though can be applied to others with similar effect.
hensroth maybe, but strong salts can't change pH and how our tastebuds interacts with many things may not be as straight forward as an pH meter
All he is saying is that sour and bitter are different things. He is not saying salt will not affect those 2 types of drinks. He is saying you are confusing the 2 flavors, because when you spoke about Campari you first talked about the bitterness of the drink and then the sourness of the drink
Ah, I think you're referring to when I said "so try a pinch of salt in your next sour cocktail" after describing the campari experiment? If so, I probably should have left the "sour" comment out to avoid confusion, I noted that at the end since most of the cocktails that will take advantage of this technique will be sours, though it isn't limited to sours.
A tiny pinch of salt on the espresso martini goes such a long way
I might try this for drinks I mix for myself, but I would be suspicious if I saw someone adding something to my drink with an eye dropper.
This is mad, but I'll try it.
did it work?
are you saying we crave that mineral?
pickledbomber we need it to survive. try to not eat salty food for a day and you'll see
Szobiz it's from this goat meme. the goats, I forget if it's all of them or a certain species, climb these steep inclines on mountains to lick the salt on the rocks. look up "crave that mineral" for source. lol
First Thought: Margeritha
You may want to change your application of the solution, someone might think that you are drugging them. It might be better to have glasses with the solution already in them.
inb4 pepper video...
What is your day job?
Great idea but please don't use iodized salt for the next time.
The salt he used is Iodized salt you can tell by the label is also know as table salt and it just doesn't taste as clean are salt that is not iodized
ever wondered why the metric system is used by almost the entire world? 0:47
some salt for my bloody Mary
your voice is so nice and soothing? i could listen to you read a dictionary and it would be enjoyable tbh
i use my own tears
but... 20 grams salt to 80 grams water is 25 percent... or am i missing something here?
The total is 100 grams though, so 20% of total volume is salt.
Boozist after adding the salt he re Tares the scale. Thus 20% by weight is salt (not volume).
i dont even add salt in my food
Clearly someone's not up to date with their memes.
I don't support this idea of adding salt to everything. Adding it to food or drink on special occasions is alright, but the more salt you add to dishes and drink, the more used to the taste you get, meaning you'll want to add more salt....
Plus salt is already present in every baked products and prepared foods (from the supermarket or the fast food), which means your intake of salt can already be high.