Salt Air Margarita

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.

When was your last memorable meal? We have many, but a recent meal that sticks out in my mind is one we enjoyed in Las Vegas a few months ago. At 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), and margaritas with salt air. So of course we had to recreate the salt air margarita for you! Keep reading for the recipe.

How to make a salt air margarita

So what’s salt air? 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 you’ll have to pick up some of that texturas sucro, available at the link above. If you’re not into texturas sucro, 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.

We’ve included a few of our favorite Instagram shots from our Vegas trip below. Enjoy!

Views of Las Vegas: right to left, top to bottom:

• View from the strip, Bellagio water show, our niece Julia, inside the Venetian
• Hoover dam (times 2), palm trees at the Hoover dam, Lake Mead
• Inside the Venetian, our meal at Otto, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich’s restaurant, outside Caesar’s Palace, Chihuly glass in the Bellagio lobby
• Bellagio water show, outside the Venetian, game time in the hotel, the Venetian
• Gravalax at Bouchon, Bouchon dining room, French bread at Bouchon, our sweet niece and nephew
• Caesar’s Palace (times 2), view from the plane, the strip at night
• Inside China Poblano, nephew Colby ready to party, inside the Cosmopolitan, Vegas lights

Looking for easy cocktail recipes?

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

• BEST Classic Margarita
• Best Frose Recipe (Frozen Rosé)
• Simple Lemon Margarita
• Whiskey Sour Recipe
• Best Frozen Margarita
• Margarita Salt Recipe
• Lemonade Slushie Recipe
• Strawberry Margarita with Lime Ice
• Bloody Mary Recipe
• Cherry Blueberry Champagne Sparklers
• Pomegranate Spice “Hygge” Cocktail
• 23 Classic Cocktails

Looking for drink recipes?

And for when you’re looking for “mocktail” recipes — we’ve got you covered too!

• Lemon Herb Cucumber Water Recipe 
• Lavender Lemon Spritzer
• Pomegranate Non Alcoholic Spritzer 
• Sparkling Blood Orange Rosemary Water 
• How to Use a Chemex to Make Coffee 
• How to Make Cold Brew Coffee 
• How to Make Kombucha

This lemon spritzer recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, plant-based, and vegan.

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