Greyhound (cocktail)

Greyhound

Two greyhound cocktails
Type	Mixed drink
Primary alcohol by volume	Gin
Served	On the rocks; poured over ice
Standard drinkware	Old Fashioned glass
Commonly used ingredients	5 cl (1 parts) Gin 20 cl (4 parts) Grapefruit juice
Preparation	Mix gin and juice, pour over ice in Old Fashioned glass

A greyhound is a cocktail consisting of grapefruit juice and either gin or vodka mixed and served over ice. If the rim of the glass has been salted, the drink is instead called a salty dog.

History

The earliest known mention of a cocktail of this description is in bartender and author Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930. Craddock describes his recipe as "...a variation of the Grapefruit Cocktail...", suggesting that such cocktails were already in common use before his book was written. His recipe consists of nothing but gin, grapefruit juice and ice.

A recipe for a similar cocktail with the name "Greyhound" appears in Harper's magazine in 1945 (volume 191, page 461) thus: "The cocktails were made of vodka, sugar, and canned grapefruit juice -- a greyhound. This cocktail was served at Greyhound's popular restaurant chain that was located at bus terminals, called 'Post House'."

Before 1945, vodka was an uncommon spirit and most drinks we think of today as "classic cocktails" and which call for vodka, originally would have contained gin. As vodka's popularity grew after the War and gin's popularity waned, many of the popular cocktails persisted, albeit with vodka substituted for gin. The most conspicuous of these is the Martini which, before 1945, would invariably have been made with gin.

The reason that most cocktails during and just after prohibition were prepared with salted or sugared rims is because the quality of adult beverages was not so appealing. Also, more currently, both the greyhounds and the salty dogs are more often ordered / made with vodkas not gins. The root cause of this is for taste preferences and to serve a broader market.^[1]

Garnish

For the greyhound, twist of lime or lemon. There is a variation of the greyhound that is growing in popularity. Its garnishes are rosemary sprigs and grapefruit wedges because it is called the rosemary greyhound. This spin off contains rosemary simple syrup; specifies red ruby grapefruit juice and a squeeze of fresh lemon. This variation is always made with vodka, since the aromatics of gin will clash with the rosemary. ^[2]

See also

• List of cocktails
• Liquor portal

References