Your Ranch Water Is About to Get a Whole Lot Tastier Thanks to This Texas-Made Garnish

Courtesy of Salteez

As with most good stories, this one begins in a bar.

"My wife and I were sitting at a bar waiting on limes for our beers," says Johnny Loftis, founder and CEO of Santa Fe, Texas, brand Salteez. "I said, 'What if they had a strip that you could just pull out of your pocket and put on your beer, and you wouldn't have to mess with the salt and lime?"

He went home and made a prototype the very next day, and Salteez Beer Salt Strips were born.

"In Texas, when people order Dos Equis or Corona, you'll often hear the waiter or waitress say, 'Do you want it dressed?" says Loftis. (For those of us not fortunate enough to live in the great state, a dressed drink comes with salt and lime around the rim and bottleneck.)

Salteez Beer Salt Strips capture those flavors without the mess. "It's 100-percent edible gummy candy that has adhesive on one side and flavoring on the other side," he explains. The strips come in three flavors—Salt & Lime, Chili Lime, and Pickle Salt—and using them is simple: peel, stick, lick. Once you've finished your drink (be it a beer; a watermelon margarita; or our current favorite, ranch water), you can pull it off and stick it to your next cocktail, eat it, or toss it. (BUY IT: $15 for 20 strips; amazon.com)

While Loftis acknowledges that nothing can beat natural lime juice and salt, Salteez offers an easier and more sanitary alternative for garnishing your drink on the go.

"We invented it to be a convenient way to dress your beer, so if you're at a sporting event or crawfish boil or party, you're not shaking salt and getting lime juice all over the place," says Loftis. "It's also a cleaner way of doing it." Instead of licking the salt directly off the can or the bottle, for example, you're licking it off a separate strip instead.

The Salteez founder's go-to is the original Salt & Lime strip, and he likes it best stuck on a Dos Equis or a Corona. And while Loftis may choose a favorite Salteez, he can't name which of the two beers he prefers. "That's like choosing a favorite child."

WATCH: How to Make Texas Ranch Water