Cocktail Questions: Salt, Cocktail Books, Batched Drinks With and Without Alcohol
In this edition of Cocktail Questions:
Salt in cocktails
Am I going to write a book?
Non-alcoholic batched drinks that allow guests to add booze
Do you have a question about cocktails, bars, booze, home bartending, or something else related to the topics discussed in this newsletter? Send it to me at cocktailswithsuderman@gmail.com
Salt of the Earth
One of the major insights I learned from the newsletter is the power of salt in cocktails, but I wonder if I may be taking it too far — I’ve found that to me almost *any* cocktail improved by adding a bit of salt (especially those in the Negroni family which I basically never make without it), even if the recipe doesn’t call for it. Is there any reason not to do this?
—Dan C.
One answer to this question is: You should do whatever you please with any cocktail recipe. It’s your drink! If you like salt, then salt away.
Another is that you’re right. More cocktails should include salt, and more home bartenders should add salt to their creations.
Salt adds something to most drinks—but not all of them. Nearly any drink that involves citrus will benefit from a bit of salt, especially with drinks built on unaged spirits. Daiquiris, Margaritas, and gin-based sours should almost always include salt.
Salt can benefit eggy drinks, like eggnog, too, in the same way that a bit of salt can elevate a chocolate chip cookie.
Negroni-class drinks often benefit from salt, which mutes the bitter flavors of amaro and elevates the other elements.
One of the best versions of the Kingston Negroni I’ve ever had was sprinkled with large salt crystals on the top. This meant that every other sip or so had a big pop of salt to it. Typically I am reluctant to embrace drinks in which the experience/flavor is different from sip to sip. But this worked something like a salt slot-machine, offering a little rush every time I hit the salt jackpot. I loved it.
And yet—I don’t always use salt in Negroni-ish drinks because sometimes I want the bitterness to come through. What’s the point of Campari if you’re going to lobotomize its intensity? Bitterness, well proportioned, is one of life’s delights. Maybe that’s just a personality quirk.
I don’t care for salt in a classic Old Fashioned, and Manhattans are not the ideal vehicles for salt either.
Martinis often benefit from salt, especially when batched and freezer-chilled. My favorite batched Martini incorporates salt. But that takes you in the direction of olive brine and questionable green bean experiments. Perhaps we should move on.
A Reading Rainbow
Simple one: would you consider publishing some of the substack as a book?
I am not a paid subscriber, because I am not *that* into cocktails that I would need a new recipe every week. On the other hand, the archive was invaluable to me to get started. If I could buy "the essentials" on paper, I absolutely would.
—Matt from Switzerland
The reason this Substack exists is because, four or five years ago, I wanted to write a cocktail book. I thought there was a gap in the market for a particular kind of writing about cocktails, aimed at the home bartender, that didn’t exist when I was starting out making drinks.
But I couldn’t figure out why anyone would publish a cocktail book by me, a person who had no preexisting qualifications for writing a cocktail book.
That’s somewhat different now. I currently have several ideas for cocktail books based at least partly on concepts from this newsletter. But I have also really come to like the newsletter format, which allows for a more direct connection with readers, and a kind of immediacy that the slower world of traditional book publishing doesn’t support.
And then there’s the question of time. I have a full-time day job, two podcasts, a new puppy on the way, and a lot of science fiction novels to read. So we’ll see.
The Secret of the Booze?
Do you have any tips or recipes for a batched drink that guests can add alcohol to on their own? When we're hosting parties some of our friends often want to go alcohol free without standing out. I've often just done a punch and left out some bottles of rum or gin next to it, but I'd love some new ideas.
—Andrew B.
The simplest answer to this is one you might not expect: Make lemonade.
Simple lemonade. Fancy lemonade. Sweet lemonade. Bright and tangy lemonade. Even, to tie things together, salty lemonade.
Homemade lemonade remains underrated. The world would be a much better place if we all drank more lemonade. It’s easy to make, easy to modify, and delicious both with and without booze.
I have a standard template that I start from and then modify. It can be made boozy, or not.