It's supposed to be bad enough that you don't want to drink so much that you're always drinking. If it's sweet and sugar, then wouldn't people always want it?

[He drinks when he needs to, drinks when his state is compromised, which means that he only did it when he could be protected, but that some nights were so hard that it had been impossible not to. He glances over to see if he can't get tequila in an actual glass to work at, trying to narrow down the bartender]

Dios mio. Salt is for food, for spices. It's not to make a good drink somehow tolerable, when it is already plenty good.