A Saltier Dog

No, not Gus.

But here is a question for you. Cocktails come in all sorts of flavors. There are sweet bombs, sour ones, and bitter cordials. But there are very few cocktails that are salty. A salted rim on a Margarita does not a salty cocktail make. A dirty martini may fit the bill, but I prefer an olive that tastes like gin to gin that tastes like olives. Maybe salty cocktails are few and far between because the traditional accompaniment to pre-dinner drinking was salty snacks like peanuts, popcorn, pretzels, or olives. A salty drink and salty bar snacks would probably cause hyper hypertension. Still what would happen if you made a drink itself salty?

Now, the Salty Dog and the Greyhound share the same attributes. Namely, both drinks take vodka and add grapefruit juice. The Salty Dog adds a rim of salt. I wondered what would happen if you took that salted rim and incorporated it into the drink? I remembered a margarita at Jose Andres' Jaleo that used a salt air to add a subtle salinity to the drink. Making an air is too pretentious for a home bar, even for me. Instead I married the flavors of a Salty Dog with the technique of a Pisco Sour or Gin Fizz. To tone down the flavors of the drink, I used Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka.

Serve it with something sweet like the gaze of a basset hound.

A Saltier Dog

3 oz Honeysuckle Vodka
2 oz Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 egg white
A pinch of salt

Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, cover, and shake for ten seconds. Add ice, cover, and shake again for another fifteen seconds. Strain into a chilled glass; a coupe works well.