Arrrg. The Salty Dog.

Summertime cocktails.  Something light, a little sharp.  Cut right through that NYC humidity.   Maybe a Greyhound.  Hmm. Maybe some citrus salt on the rim.  Now that’s a Salty Dog.  Arrrg.

The Prep:

Do-aheads

• Simple syrup.  Equal parts sugar and water, heated until the sugar dissolves.  Cool and funnel into a squeeze bottle.
• Halve a bunch of grapefruits, hit with citrus reamer into a bowl.  Pour through strainer, pressing on the pulp with a spoon to get all the juice.  Funnel into a bottle.  
• Finely zest a lemon, lime, and part of a grapefruit.  Mix with kosher salt.

Showtime

• Prep the glass.  Rub the rim with a cut lime and roll in the citrus salt.
• Break out the shaker.  I’ve got a Boston shaker, which is the one big and one small cup.
• Ice in the small cup, squeeze in the cut lime.
• 1 or 2 shots of Absolut Ruby Red.
• Squeeze of simple syrup.
• Top off with fresh juice.
• Shake it all up nice and loud, and carefully pour into the prepared glass.  Top with a couple plump raspberries, or whatever moves you.

The Pros:

There’s a lot going on here.  Sour, sweet, salty, bitter.   Contrast turns good to great.

The Cons:

It’s time consuming to juice and strain all the grapefruits.  A friend was sympathetic with my plight and just got me a Cuisinart power juicer, which should help things (thanks OZ!).  Just need to convince the Mrs. that there’s room in the kitchen.  Maybe I’ll swap out the Chinoise….

The Takeaway:

We’ve ordered this cocktail a number of times out in the city, and with one exception (Blue Hill – yum) it’s never as good as when you squeeze the grapefruit and mix it up yourself.  And get crazy with the shaking. There’s few nicer sounds!

btw it’s great without the vodka too, the little one calls that a ‘hush puppy’

• absolut ruby red vodka
• Blue Hill
• boston shaker
• grapefruit
• greyhound
• salty dog
• simple syrup
• summer cocktails
• summer's not just margaritas