Name: Salty Dog
Prep time: 4 min
Total time: 4 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Internacional
Ingredients: 50 ml vodka or gin; 100 ml grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed); 1 pinch fine salt (for the rim); 1 pc grapefruit slice (for garnish)

Salty Dog

Shake up the classic Salty Dog cocktail with vodka or gin, fresh grapefruit juice and a salted rim for a bright, citrusy sip in minutes.

4 min Internacional 1 servings

Why does the salt sit on the rim instead of inside the drink? Because every sip drags across that salted edge before it reaches your tongue, and the salt trims grapefruit's natural bitterness, letting the citrus read brighter and rounder. The Salty Dog is a mid-twentieth-century American cocktail, a direct descendant of the Greyhound, which simply combines vodka or gin with grapefruit juice and nothing else. The only thing separating the two drinks is that frosted salt rim: scrape it off and you're back to a Greyhound. Its name was old sailor slang for a weathered crew member seasoned by years of sea and salt spray, which suits the drink's blunt, no-frills character. Use freshly squeezed grapefruit, never from a carton: fresh juice carries a lively acidity and clean bitterness that boxed versions lose. To salt the glass, run a citrus slice around the rim and twist it over a plate of fine salt, coating the edge evenly. Serve it ice cold over plenty of ice in a tall glass. Garnish with a grapefruit wheel to telegraph what's coming.