Flavored Beer Salt: Blech

Time for a quick product review. A San Antonio Company called Twang sent a box of flavored salts to The Austin Chronicle (for which I write). There were a variety of flavors and purposes: Several cocktail salts (for margaritas — including mango and lemon-lime flavored — and bloody mary) and several different flavors for putting on snacks.

The ones of interest to me: beer salts. I was immediately wary of these. I remembered my father, before he discovered craft beer, putting salt and lime in his Miller Lite. Looking back on it, I realize that must have been for one reason: Because Miller Lite has no flavor.

And when I was in college, I did like everyone else and squeezed lime into my Corona. I did this for the same reason: Because otherwise, Corona has no flavor. At the risk of offending Latinos everywhere, I'll boldly proclaim that this is a consistent theme in Mexican and other Latin American beers: They tend to always be flavorless water. Ideal, perhaps, for a hot climate — I myself like 'em cold and crisp in our Texas summers — but sadly, it means that I don't turn to those countries when I'm looking for something bolder. (Of course, beers like Fireman's 4 prove that a good summer beer doesn't have to be devoid of taste. And of course, I do not include the "Mexican style" beers of Cedar Park's Twisted X.)

So, to cut to the chase: I dumped some of this stuff (it came in lime and lemon-lime flavors) into a glassof Modelo Especial , and it just upheld my suspicions: This is for people who don't like the taste of beer. This is for people who drink Corona or Lite or whatever, oblivious to the fact that they are just drinking overpriced water, and need something to make it worthwhile for their tastebuds.

But if you actually like the taste of beer … just leave this stuff on the shelves. It's not for you.