Here is another case of cocktail conversion. The Salty Dog was originally made with gin. Cold War-era bartenders substituted vodka for gin in the 1950s and the revised beverage found a large audience of later afternoon drinkers. If made without the sugar-salt crusted rim, it’s called a Greyhound. The Greyhound, too, was once made with gin.

Salty Dog
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon coarse salt
Lime wedge
1 1/2 ounces vodka
4 ounces fresh grapefruit juice

Mix sugar and salt on a small plate. Rub the rim of a collins glass with the lime wedge, then dip the rim in the sugar-salt mix to coat the lip of the glass. Add 3 to 4 ice cubes. Pour in vodka and juice. Stir carefully with long-handled bar spoon until chilled.

Tasting notes: Drinking over the rim brings the salt and sugar into the tangy, pleasantly bitter natural drink. Some drinkers prefer to leave the rim intact and sip through a straw.

Tomorrow: Dubonnet Riff

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