Mojito or Margarita with "Air"

I *had* to go to Vegas for a conference, my second trip in two months to the Sin City. One of the high points was finding China Poblano which had some great eats and two outstanding cocktails.

First was the Margarita Salt Air.... A fine margarita that takes the salt/no salt from the decision and adds a layer of salted foam, or air, to the top. The recipe you find on line is based on volume, it didn't work, the foam settles to fast and bubbles didn't get big enough. Anyone done this by weight?

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/salt-air-margarita-cocktails-2011

The missus dug the Mojito and its value at only $8 a glass, happy hour only. This was another modern turn on the mojito... They cut limes and mint and "infuse" for four hours. They make a simple syrup and let mint steep. Then they foam the top with a sweetened lime. Mighty fine..... and it's gonna be 90+ this weekend so I'm thinking pool cocktail.

I used VersaWhip for the Mojito....1/2 teaspoon to 3 oz liquid, 1 oz simple, 2 oz liquor. Again, not the right proportion as texture and volume we off- it melted too quick. VW did produce a mighty velvety texture... was looking for bigger bubbles.

BTW, I suppose it might matter, I was using a Bamix on high.

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mwburke

Another fine point... I used Modernist Pantry Sucrose Esters not Sucro.... Did it all go wrong at the start??

mwburke

Some more, ahhh, work on this yesterday with Mojito. Somewhere I read to hydrate the Sucro so that went into the water first and sat. Then I added the simple syrup and lime. It was a little lighter, a little bigger bubble. Either way, there's something missing.

lfmichaud

Cannot tell you about the Sucro as I don't have any. But I experimented a few years ago to make a salt espuma for margaritas. My best results for texture and stability was 1% Versawhip 600K, .2% Xanthan and 3% salt. The texture is between meringue and bubble bath and it's stable for hours.

For the mojito try adding .1% to .2% Xanthan to your mix with the versawhip to try to make it more stable. You can also play with the amount of Versawhip to adjust the texture

Have fun

douglas_bd

So, I had dinner at China Poblano 2 nights ago, and that salt foam is stable forever. I remembered this post and asked the bartender about it. I didn't remember you had a link to the recipe, and didn't get a lot of details and some of those details are in the recipe, but the bartenders technique was a bit different so maybe this will help. He said they add sucro to salt water and bring to a boil - presumably to hydrate it. Then they cool the mixture and add a housemade sour mix (not lime as in the recipe) - he did not provide the details on this mix recipe. They hit this with a stick blender to create the foam. I've never used sucrose esters, but may have to pick some up to play with.