Latest / The Monégasque Table / Edible Glitter Margarita: Salt Rim or Shaker?
Transcript
- Dana: 8. That's the number the margarita recipe gives you for a crowd. Multiply everything by 8, put it in a pitcher. And the glitter question is, does it go in the pitcher, or on the rim with the salt? Margaux: Welcome to The Monégasque Table. Today's question is for anyone running a margarita as the signature drink at a party: where does the edible glitter go in a margarita? Dana: Because I've seen it both ways, and one of them looked a lot better than the other. Margaux: Here's the answer up front. In the drink, not just the rim. The classic recipe I read is 1 ounce blanco tequila, 1 ounce orange liqueur, 1 ounce fresh lime juice and 1/2 ounce agave, shaken with ice and strained over fresh ice into a salt-rimmed glass. The pinch of glitter goes in with the liquid, so it moves when the drink moves. The rim is a bonus, not the main event. Dana: Why not the rim? The rim is the first thing you see. Margaux: Because the rim is a ring of coarse salt, and glitter in the salt is a few sparkles on a white line. Glitter in the drink is the swirl. Glitter flake runs 50 to 500 microns and it's the format built to stay visible and suspended in a drink. That's the effect people take photos of. Dana: And the rim? Can I still do a sparkle rim? Margaux: Yes, and the recipe gives you the order that matters: rub a lime wedge around the rim of an empty glass, dip it into a small plate of coarse salt, then fill with ice and pour. The recipe is firm that the glass has to be empty to rim it, so always rim before you pour. A pinch of glitter mixed into that plate of salt gives you a glint on the rim. Dana: Now the crowd. Multiply by 8, into a pitcher. Margaux: And here's where we disagree. I'd still shake each drink, because shaking spreads the glitter through the drink before it hits the glass. Dana: My round. The recipe itself says, for a crowd, stir it in a pitcher with ice instead of shaking. I've got 40 guests and one bartender who is also my cousin. Nobody is shaking 40 margaritas. Glitter goes in the pitcher, and the pitcher gets a stir before every pour. Margaux: That's the round you win. And it's a better show, too. A clear glass pitcher, a stir, and the swirl happens right there on the bar before anyone has a glass. 8 drinks at the printed 0.1 grams is 0.8 grams per pitcher. At about 15 cents a drink, that's about $1.20 of glitter for the whole pitcher. Dana: $1.20 a pitcher. I've spent more on limes. Margaux: One thing worth knowing about the drink. The federal listing for this pigment, 21 CFR 73.350, has a beverage entry that names cocktails. And its clause on cocktail mixes names margarita mix by name. So the margarita is one of the drinks that entry actually spells out. Dana: And does it matter that a margarita isn't crystal clear? It's a little cloudy with all that lime. Margaux: It matters some. An analysis of about 2,400 category reviews has buyers saying glitter works best with clear drinks. A shaken margarita is pale and see-through enough to show a gold swirl in a clear glass. A frozen, blended margarita is a different story. It's opaque, and the glitter disappears into it. Dana: Who should skip it? Margaux: 3 skips. If your margaritas are frozen and blended, skip the glitter in the drink and keep it on the rim, if anywhere. If you're serving in colored or frosted glasses, skip it, nobody will see the swirl. And if the bar is pouring a strawberry or mango version, the color hides it; save the glitter for the classic. Dana: Dana's Scorecard. I came in thinking the rim was the sparkle. Where I landed. One: glitter goes in the drink, so it swirls; the rim is a bonus. Two: rim the empty glass first, lime then salt, then ice, then pour. Three, my round: for a crowd, stir it in a clear pitcher, stir again before every pour. Four: 0.8 grams a pitcher of 8, about $1.20. My caveat: my cousin is still the bartender, and that's on me. Margaux: Noted. The footnote: the MONÉGASQUE Liquid Gold 10 gram drink glitter is on Amazon at $14.99, about 100 servings, which is 12 pitchers and change. Dana: Next time, Christmas morning. Cinnamon rolls, the icing, and a timeline that starts the night before. Margaux: The night before is the whole trick, and the number that matters is 1 hour. One note before we go — this show is produced by the team at Monégasque, with AI-crafted hosts. See you at the table.