'Tis The Season To Rim Your Cocktail Glasses With Salted Caramel

Holiday cocktail season is upon us. Which means it's time for all sorts of festive sweet and creamy delicacies. Cocktail menus will soon be flush with plenty of candy cane and apple cider-inspired drinks. At the same time, home bartenders are set to stock up on peppermint, mocha, and caramel-flavored liquors to make their own delicious concoctions. But there's an ingredient that you definitely need to add to your home bar if you haven't already: salted caramel syrup. Together with the rock salt that you no doubt already have on hand, it's the perfect way to rim your glass for a lot of those holiday cocktails.

A super tasty salted caramel rim is also easy to do. Just spread the caramel syrup or sauce around the rim and dip it lightly in rock or kosher salt. You can also pour the sauce out on a small plate and turn the glass upside down to coat the rim if you like. Then use another plate to do the same with the salt. This will keep the caramel from contaminating the rest of the salt in the glass rimmer. Or just sprinkle the salt on lightly by hand. You'll want to use substantially less salt than you do for a margarita rim, so it's a good idea to use one of these alternate methods. You can also limit the salted caramel sauce to half of the rim if you prefer less of the sweet and salty stickiness with each sip.

There are so many options here. Sweet and salty rims are not just for martinis and margaritas, after all. Any kind of holiday drink that features fruity flavors like apples or pears could benefit from this tasty rim. Try it with spiked hot apple cider or vanilla pear punch. You can even give regular all-season cocktails like Appletinis some holiday flair with a salted caramel rim. You could also try it with green apple Jell-O shots — those will definitely get an unexpected festive boost with a salted caramel rim.

Of course, caramel-based cocktails will also be ideal — whether they are hot, cold, frozen, or in shot form. For these, consider drizzling the inside of your cocktail glass with caramel syrup as well. Try this fun combination with caramel-tinis, caramel mudslides, caramel White Russians, and more. Or mix it up and put a salted caramel rim on a chocolate-tini or espresso-tini ... the options are almost endless.

Whether you've got a non-drinker at the party or the kids want to join in on the fun, a salted caramel rim can make non-alcoholic drinks prettier and tastier as well. So don't be stingy, go all out with the mocktails and hot apple cider too! The kiddos will especially enjoy salted caramel hot chocolate with a decorative rim. But even regular hot cocoa can get a delicious boost this way, just don't forget the whipped cream!

Since most cocktails can be made without the alcohol, there will be no shortage of mocktails that can benefit from a sweet and salty rim. Serve non-alcoholic buttered rum or virgin eggnog with a salted caramel rim, for example. Or come up with your own holiday creation. Whether it has alcohol or not, this special touch will make all of the difference. Not only will the taste be amplified, but the presentation will scream sophistication.