The market · Acids and agents

Saline solution

Salt dissolved in water and kept in a dropper bottle: a measurable pinch for drinks. It brightens citrus and softens bitterness without tasting salty.

salty · brightening

If you can't find it

Make it — it takes a minute.

  1. 1Salt
    Dissolve 20g salt in 80g water: a 20% solution, a drop or two per drink
    You lose nothing.

Goes with

lime juicegrapefruitcamparicoffee liqueur

Knowing it

Where to buy
Make it: 20g salt dissolved in 80g warm water is a 20% solution.
Worth knowing
Two to five drops per drink. A drop of 20% saline is about 0.01g of salt — enough to sharpen a daiquiri or round off a Negroni.

Kitchens that keep it in

New York, Mexico City, London, BarcelonaThe cocktail barSpirit, acid and sugar balanced to the gram — and lately a lab's worth of technique: clarifying, fat-washing, infusing, carbonating, until a drink can taste of a whole dish.9 classics · 4 cooked here

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