Fix Your Overly Bitter Cocktail With One Simple Ingredient

Making cocktails at home can be an intimidating undertaking. With all the liquors, liqueurs, tinctures, and garnishes at your disposal, it can seem like you need an advanced education in mixology just to get started. Sure, you know the difference between a cocktail and a mixed drink. And you probably know that certain additions, like aromatic bitters, are a great way to balance cocktails. But, when you find that your drink has gone too far to the bitter end, is it still salvageable? Yes, you can save that bitter drink: You just need to add a pinch of salt.

Salt is the most common seasoning in the world of gastronomy because it's a powerful (and natural) flavor enhancer and one of the five tastes that react with our taste buds, i.e. salty, bitter, sweet, sour, and umami. Our bodies need salt to function, so we've evolved to crave the flavor. But adding salt to any food or drink doesn't just make it taste saltier, it helps balance and enhance other flavors, as well. Salt counteracts bitter flavors by subduing our taste buds' detection of them. When it comes to cocktails, salt will draw out more sweet and sour flavors and tamp down on the bitter, taking your cocktail from lackluster to luminous. 

Salt is a particularly great addition to drinks that have heavily bitter components, like amaro-based cocktails. The salt will actually balance the bitter notes and sweeten the cocktail slightly, without adding extra sugar. And it's easy to add a pinch when making stirred drinks, like a Negroni or Boulevardier. You can also make a saline solution and add a few drops once your cocktail is already mixed, for a slight touch of subtle texture and flavor symmetry. Salt solution is delicious with more delicate cocktails, like a French 75, or fruit forward cocktails, like a daiquiri or piña colada.

A salted rim will liven up citrus-based cocktails and draw out fresher flavor. For instance, it's hard to imagine a margarita tasting nearly as refreshing without a salted rim. It also works great on the simple, classic salty dog — a vodka and grapefruit juice blend with a salted rim. If you find you've tipped the bitters bottle one too many times, add a little salt solution to mask the bitterness. If you've gone a little heavy-handed with the booze, no need to empty it in the sink. Instead, try adding a little still or sparkling water to make it a long cocktail. And when you're ready to go full umami, add a pinch of MSG to hit all of your tongue's flavor receptors.