Four Eye-Catching and Versatile New Cocktail Salts That Belong in Your Kitchen

If you've got a signature margarita or Bloody Mary recipe, why not spruce up the rim? Spice and salt companies are creating high-quality seasoned salts intended to embellish the lip of your cocktail glass and add spice, brightness, and salt to every sip. Plus, when happy hour is over, these salts bring the heat in the kitchen—use them to season roasted vegetables or fish or to add instant interest to a simple salad.

1. El Sabor De Oaxaca Chapulín Salt with Chile

Rogelio Ramírez founded El Sabor de Oaxaca more than 14 years ago to promote the region's roots and gastronomy, including the consumption of chapulines, or grasshoppers, eaten whole or in powders and salts. In 2020, the team partnered with Milk Street Store to bring a less-spicy version to the U.S. Ramírez enjoys the salt on the rim of a passion fruit mezcal cocktail or as a rub for poultry or seafood. $13, store.177milkstreet.com

2. Red Clay Spicy Margarita Salt

Charleston-based Red Clay originally developed this bestselling salt as a way to use chile flakes created in their hot sauce production. The salt is well balanced, with lime and orange peel, chile flakes, and turbinado sugar. Once you've made your spicy margarita, chef and cofounder Geoff Rhyne recommends using the salt on scallops and in salads; CEO Molly Fienning loves it in guacamole. $18 for 2 jars, redclayhotsauce.com

3. Burlap & Barrel Black Lime & Chili Salt

This salt, a collaboration with Syracuse Salt Company, was intended as a limited release but was popular enough to keep. A blend of crunchy salt crystals, Urfa pepper and silk chiles from Turkey, and black lime powder and cobanero chiles from Guatemala, it's spicy, tangy, and versatile–a perfect addition to a savory cocktail. Cofounder Ori Zohar also strongly recommends using it on popcorn. $10, burlapandbarrel.com

4. Desert Provisions Hatch Green Chile Salt

Pick your spice level with this salt, offered in both mild and hot versions. It combines Hatch green chiles, a staple of New Mexican cuisine (there's an annual festival for the pepper), with unrefined salt from the Sea of Cortez in Baja California, Mexico. Use it as part of a dry rub for meat or fish, or salt the rim for an accompanying cocktail—New Mexico bars are known for their many riffs on a margarita. $12, desertprovisions.com