The Salty Dog

Just right for the dog days of summer.

The Salty Dog, not shaken but stirred. Photo by Clarke Condé.

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The simple two-ingredient greyhound is recast as the Salty Dog with the addition of a little salt but the difference is immense. The salt tames this pooch, rendering it suitable for the dog days of summer. The salt balances out the tart grapefruit and masks nearly all the vodka flavor. To that end, I recommend a mild varietal when it comes to choosing a vodka for this drink. Skip the flavors or your less refined types and let the salt and grapefruit do the heavy lifting here. Also, though it should not need repeating, do yourself a favor and juice your own grapefruits. It makes the cocktail infinitely better. Ocean Spray only really pairs well with Aquanet.

1 1/2 Oz. Vodka
3 Oz. Grapefruit
Salt
Ice

Salt the rim, juice the grapefruit and just build the drink in the glass. I know. I know. It should be shaken, but here’s the thing, I just don’t think it makes much difference with grapefruit. It’s not a strongly-heald position, it just happens to be a bias I have. If you want to get out the shaker, by all means, be my guest. If you have the foresight you can also chill the grapefruit juice, but again in this case I don’t think it matters much. You can just go heavy on the ice. These flavors are not that delicate. Build it up, give it a stir and let that dog off leash.