DYK Bartenders have been putting saline drops in drinks for about a decade
If you have ever made a daiquiri that was technically correct and somehow flat, this is probably the missing thing. Make a 20% saline: 1 part salt to 4 parts warm water by weight, stir till clear, keep it in a dropper bottle. It lasts indefinitely.
Two or three drops in a shaken citrus drink, thats it. Not enough to taste as salt, which is the entire point.
What it does: suppresses bitterness, makes the sweetness read as rounder, and pushes the aromatics forward. Most obvious in daiquiris, margaritas and anything with grapefruit. Very obvious in a martini and some people hate it there, so try one before you commit.
Where it does nothing: stirred brown spirit drinks, mostly. I cant tell in an old fashioned.
I make mine with celtic sea salt. Its unrefined so its not pure sodium chloride, theres magnesium and potassium and a bit of sulfate in there, and in a solution this dilute I think that reads as slightly rounder than table salt does. Could be talking myself into it. Worth a side by side if youve got both.
Anyone using something other than 20%?