Forget Wieners! My Favorite Dog Is A Salty Dog!

While everyone else was celebrating National Hot Dog Day this week, I turned to a different kind of dog. A Salty Dog! Some cocktails have summer written all over them and this is one of them! The cocktail originated sometime in the 1930s. I’m not sure where, but probably a place with citrus groves! Some recipes call for gin. Others use vodka. No matter which spirit you use, a Salty Dog is simply a combination of grapefruit juice and vodka or gin, served in a glass with a salty rim. Simple right?

Wrong! The devil is in the details with this cocktail! You could use the juice from yellow grapefruits (and pleeeazz don’t use store bought juice in a bottle!) but pink grapefruits create more transcendent flavors and looks prettier in the glass! Fresh squeezed fruit is the ONLY way to go! I prefer gin with my cocktail because the botanicals layer well with the flavors of pink grapefruit.

The other item that can really jazz these babies up is the salt. With so many different kinds of sea salts and smoked salts available these days, there’s no reason not to get adventurous and dress up your rim with salts that have spicy heat or smoky aromatics.

In addition to citrus slices, fresh herbs work beautifully for the garnish. I’ve tried thyme leaves and rosemary and both infuse the grapefruit juice with zesty herbal flavors that pair well with either gin or vodka.

To get you started, check out this recipe from The Framed Table. It adds a hint of rhubarb bitters to the blend and tastes AAH-MAZING! Try it at your next your summer get together. It’s one of the most refreshing drinks you can make!

The Salty Dog

 Ingredients:

3 oz. freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (plus 1 oz. extra for rimming the glass)

1 ½ oz. vodka or gin

Grapefruit slices for garnish

Sea salt for cocktail glass rim

Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters (optional)

Directions:

1. Fill one small plate or bowl with grapefruit juice and another plate with about 1 tbsp sea salt.
2. Turn an empty cocktail glass upside down, and dip first into the juice, and then into the salt.
3. Turn the glass back over, fill with ice and set aside.
4. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, and add the grapefruit juice and vodka (and an optional 2 dashes of rhubarb bitters).
5. Shake for 30 seconds, then strain into the cocktail glass.

Know any other grapefruit juice cocktails? Let us know in the comments below!