Saline Solution

What is a saline solution?

A saline solution is wonderfully simple: salt dissolved in water, in a small dropper bottle at the bar. It does not go into drinks in large quantities but in drops or tiny splashes, the way a cook seasons with salt. And just as in the kitchen, a few drops achieve remarkable things: they pull back bitterness, let fruit and sweetness shine brighter and tie all the aromas into a rounder whole.

It sounds strange at first, but it works reliably, which is why the little bottle now sits in many of the world's best bars.

Why a few drops do so much

Salt is perhaps the most important flavour amplifier there is, far beyond the kitchen. Taste science has documented several effects:

• Salt tames bitterness: small amounts make bitter notes noticeably softer without the drink tasting salty
• Salt lifts sweetness: below the perception threshold, salt can make sweet and fruity notes come through more clearly
• Salt rounds off: the interplay of all aromas feels more harmonious, like perfect seasoning in cooking

The crucial point: the drink is not supposed to taste of salt. The amounts deliberately stay below the threshold at which you would taste salt at all. So you taste no salt, you taste a better balanced drink.

How a saline solution is made

The classic bar ratio is simple: one part salt to four parts water, which gives a 20 percent solution. Warm water dissolves the salt faster, then everything goes into a small dropper bottle. Since salt is a natural preservative, the solution keeps well, and a fridge extends its shelf life even further.

The rule of thumb in use is the same as seasoning in the kitchen: go in small steps. Two or three drops into a drink, taste in between, then decide whether one more drop may join in. Too much makes the drink salty, properly dosed it makes it round.

From the margarita to the dropper bottle: a short history

Salt and drinks have known each other for a long time. In Mexico, tequila is traditionally drunk with salt and lime, and the salted rim of the margarita is a classic of cocktail culture. In the craft cocktail movement of the 2000s and 2010s, bartenders then asked a clever question: what if the salt does not stay on the rim but migrates into the drink, precisely measured? Books such as Dave Arnold's "Liquid Intelligence" made the saline solution known as a precision tool, and since then the dropper bottle has travelled from bar to bar.

Distinction: saline, salt rim and dirty

Salt can reach your drink in three ways, and the difference is worth knowing:

• Salt rim (margarita): salt on the glass rim only touches your lips, it is a texture and aroma contrast while drinking, the drink itself stays untouched
• Dirty (martini): olive brine joins in noticeable quantity and is a flavour carrier in its own right with a bold savoury note
• Saline solution: the fine seasoning in drops, invisibly distributed through the whole drink, pure balance with no saltiness of its own

Remember: the salt rim is an experience, the dirty martini is a flavour, the saline solution is the seasoning.

At our lounge

If one of our drinks tastes especially round and balanced, there is a good chance two drops of saline solution were involved. Feel free to ask our team about it, after all salt is the oldest ingredient in the world and one of the smartest at a modern bar.