salting the glass perfectly every time

When it come to your favorite margarita, you may be salt-shy due to heavy salting in your past experiences. Yet, when the salting is done correctly, it enhances the flavor of the tequila and integrates the flavors. I prefer to salt-encrust just half of the rim so that guests can sip from the salt side or not as they drink their margarita. Here is a simple method to be sure your glass is salted perfectly every time:

1. Spread Sal del Margarita* evenly on a small plate
2. Moisten the rim of your glass — just the top edge — by running a lime slice around the rim delivering a light coating of lime juice
3. Press the rim of the glass into the salt to crust the rim
4. Tap off the excess
5. Allow the salt to air-dry before filling the glass — this ensures that the salt lightly flakes off with each sip

Other tips:

• Use a martini glass instead of the bowl-sized glasses served in some bars that are so big that they require a straw to drink the margarita because they are too heavy to lift. I call margaritas made this way the “new martini.”

• Use a cocktail shaker and mix small amounts of margaritas.  The shaken method of making a margarita gives it a purer taste over the taste of  sweet slushy margaritas. Shake for about 10 seconds to melt the ice into the drink. Strain into your glass.

• Ingredients matter. Margaritas are best made with 100% pure agave blanco tequila; fresh-squeezed lime juice and the orange sweetness of Cointreau. There is a growing trend of using boutique aged tequilas.

• Experiment with adding other flavors to the salt. For a mango margarita, I finely chop mint leaves and mix it in the Sal de Margarita.

*Use Sal del Margarita and let the crisp, salty taste complement the lime and the tequila ingredients while delivering a light crunch as you sip from the glass. Notice how Sal de Margarita quickly dissolves on the palate? Be sure to see my blog archive “marvelous margaritas” for more ideas.