Salt-rich ice particles constitute a major compositional group observed in Enceladus' plume and Saturn’s E-ring by the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) aboard the Cassini space craft. These tiny ice particles were thought to represent frozen aerosolized droplets of relatively homogenous composition, forming from turbulences at the water table of Enceladus’ salty subsurface ocean. Here, we present an updated analysis based on about 1000 mass spectra of individual salt rich ice grains, focusing on the compositional diversity within this group. We find at least five basic compositional subtypes, each one dominated by a specific sodium or potassium salt. We use both, extensive laboratory experiments and thermodynamical modelling, to reproduce the process of ice grain formation from aerosolized liquid ocean droplets in Enceladus’ subsurface and were able to achieve a good match with the CDA data. With that we get new insights into the physical and chemical conditions in Enceladus ice vents and infer a plume formation process that is more complex than previously thought. The very heterogenous and diverse plume composition offers guidance for future plume sampling missions to Enceladus.