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This salt air margarita is topped with a later of salty foam that provides just the right amount of saltiness with each tangy grapefruit margarita sip.

Salt air margarita

On a trip to Las Vegas, we visited China Poblano, a Chinese and Mexican small plates restaurant by one of our favorite chefs, the exuberant Jose Andres. We enjoyed imaginative dishes like tuna ceviche with crispy amaranth (which actually inspired the crispy topping on this soup), dancing eggplant (with bonito flakes that “danced” in the breeze).

The best part? Margaritas with salt air. It was so much fun that we had to recreate the salt air margarita for you! Keep reading for the recipe.

Tips for a salt air margarita

Salt air is a layer of salty foam on the top of the margarita, and it provides just the right amount of saltiness with each tangy margarita sip. It’s a creation by Chef Jose Andres for his restaurant, and of course we were smitten.

Upon our return from Las Vegas, Alex was hot to recreate salt air. Some internet research showed it called for an interesting ingredient called texturas sucro.

Making the salt air margarita at home was just as fun as drinking it in the restaurant. It’s quite easy to make, as long as you have an immersion blender and texturas sucro. Scroll down to the recipe for the method!

Tip: If you want to make them without the salt air, these grapefruit margaritas are mighty tasty on their own. They’re the perfect amount of tang, sweetened naturally with honey. Just make them up and add a little salt to the rim.

More cocktail recipes

Outside of this salt air margarita, here are a few of our favorite drink recipes:

Dietary notes

This salt air margarita recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, plant-based, and vegan.

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Salt Air Margarita

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This salt air margarita is topped with a later of salty foam that provides just the right amount of saltiness with each tangy grapefruit margarita sip.

  • Author: a Couple Cooks
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 2 large, 4 medium 1x
  • Category: Drink
  • Method: Mixed
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

For the salt air margarita

  • 1 cup tequila
  • 1 cup fresh red ruby grapefruit juice (about 2 grapefruits, depending on size)
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup water

For the salt foam

Instructions

  1. Cut the grapefruit in half and squeeze the juice into a large bowl. Strain out any pulp and seeds.
  2. Make the salt foam: Combine all ingredients and blend with an immersion blender until foam forms and volume is about doubled. Allow the foam to sit for about 2 minutes, and then carefully scoop out the foam and spoon over margarita.
  3. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail mixer with ice. Shake, and serve immediately with salt foam on top.

Notes

Salt foam adapted from Jose Andres via Food and Wine

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About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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12 Comments

  1. Ruth says:

    Cal and I are headed to Vegas on Wednesday. Any other suggestions on where to eat (or what to do)? I haven’t been since I was 14 and I’m thinking it might have changed since then… :) Thanks in advance!

  2. joan says:

    This sounds so good!!!!! I just forwarded the recipe to my son in law. He is our family bartender. We have been to Vegas many times and enjoyed each trip.

  3. Kathryne says:

    Salt foam?! Awesome. No doubt I’d love this cocktail.

  4. Julia says:

    Im holding a happy hour today and have been looking for fun new cocktails to try! Yours is definitely now on my menu!

  5. Jessica Nunemaker from little Indiana says:

    Wow–does that look GORGEOUS! I really don’t like grapefruit but mixed with tequila might make it just fine. LOL! :)

    1. Sonja says:

      Thank you, Jessica! Yes, the tequila blends quite nicely with the grapefruit — maybe you wouldn’t notice :)

  6. angela @ another bite please says:

    tequila is my hard liquor of choice….with grapefruit sounds like the perfect combo…now to get my hubby to make me one ;-)

  7. Erin says:

    I could have had about five more of these- they were sooo good!

  8. sarah says:

    This looks delicious! And salt foam… I might have to try it. ;)

    1. Sonja says:

      As long as you’re ok with Texturas Sucro! You should get some :)

  9. Tieghan says:

    Oh vegas! I have only been there once and only for a few hours, but wow! it is the place to see! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. These margs are beautiful. I love grapefruit!

    1. Sonja says:

      Yes, we had a great time, thanks! You’ll have to go back and try out a little more Vegas when you have the chance.