DIY custom salt & sugar

We just discovered the easiest way to give your cocktails (or any other beverage) a custom look with either colored salt or sugar. If you like to add either to the rim of the glass, this project couldn't be easier.

What You'll Need

• Sugar or Salt
• Air tight container
• Food Coloring

Simply pour in the amount you think you need into the air tight container. Add a few drops of food coloring, snap on the lid and shake. If you want a richer color just add a few more drops and shake again. Simple and easy way to customize your margaritas or martinis. 

Chipotle salt and a Margarita too

We get fresh seasonal ingredients year round in California so it inspired us to make a sinfully delicious cocktail, as usual.

The idea of garnishing the rim with more than just salt happened as we were playing with different concepts for our margaritas.  After a fanciful mexican meal topped with a chipotle sauce, using a salt mixture with this perfect chili came to us.  So we took some pink kosher rock salt and mixed it with a bit of smoky chipotle powder-what a great color combo on the glass. The result? As you put your nose in the glass to take your first sip you get a whiff of smokiness, then taste saltiness, then a little spicy, then the finale- a perfect margarita.

A solid Reposado tequila rounds off the flavor of the chipotle, our favorite elderflower liqueur accentuates sweet floral flavors, and the fresh lime juice keeps everything just tart enough. Time to mix up the salt!

Cheers!

Chipotle Salt Rim

For the rim

• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle

• lime wedge

For the cocktail

• 2 oz Reposado Tequila

• 1 oz Saint Germain liqueur

• 3/4 oz fresh lime juice

Place the salt and chipotle powder in a small bowl and mix well. Spread on a small plate. Moisten the rim of a cocktail glass with the lime wedge and dip the glass rim in the salt-chipotle mixture. Set aside for the pouring of margaritas.

Salt air meets a margarita

Want salt with your margie, but just a lot less of it? Salt does great things to tequila and lime, but in small doses. Too often that gritty, too salty sensation is overkill. Now, we've got it covered. With foam. The Lybations margarita comes with a cloud of lightly salted foam on top. No grit. No overkill. Just the right balance of the sweet, sour, and salty. The secret? Egg whites? A cappuccino foamer? Nope, we've made it much easier than all that.

Salt Air Foam:

1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
2 cups water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon soy lecithin (available at any vitamin store)

Preparation:

Combine ingredients. Tilt the bowl away from you and blend with hand-held blender held away from you. When there's an inch or so of foam on top, it's ready to use. Skim off foam onto margarita. When you've used it all up, repeat the process. Juice mixture can be refrigerated for several days, so it's great for multiple uses.

Simple Puttanesca Paired with Chianti

1 lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta
¼ cup olive oil
½ fresh cherry tomatoes
2 Tbsp chopped garlic chopped
2 Tbsp capers, drained
½ Tbsp of red pepper flakes
½ cup kalamata olives pitted & halved
½ cup black olives pitted & chopped
2 Tbsp fresh basil finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large skillet – saute garlic in olive oil, add tomatoes until soft. Add capers, olives, pepper flakes, salt, pepper & basil until blended. Add cooked pasta, fold & serve.

Chianti has a fruity character and pairs well with tomato-based dishes.