Liquid Persuasion

Technique: Salting the Rim of a Glass

It took me a while to figure out how to do this. The first time I tried, I thought I could dip the rim of glass into a saucer of water, then dip it into a plate of salt, and bam—done! Au contraire. The salt barely stuck to the glass, and what did make it on there fell off. Here are some tips I’ve learned from various sources since then:

1. Don’t use water. Use a slice or wedge of lemon or lime.
2. The salt should not go inside the glass. Run the lemon or lime around the outside edge and rim of the glass.
3. Press the outside edge of the glass into a plate with some salt poured on it, then tap off excess.
4. Use kosher salt, not iodized—iodized is way too salty and won’t stick to the glass as well.
5. Once the glass is rimmed in salt, put it in the freezer for a few minutes. This will help the salt stick to the glass and chill the glass.

Ta-da! You can now impress your friends and family with a professionally salt-rimmed glass and are ready to pour margaritas.