The Salty Dog

I'm bringing this project back to the book and finally getting around to the first drink from the book I ever had, albeit a year or so before I read it.


The Salty Dog
Gin
Grapefruit Juice
Salt

The biggest distinguishing feature of this drink from the other two is the salted rim of the glass, which gives the drink its name. The salt is also the key to the greatness of this drink. The mix of gin and grapefruit juice is sort of a bitter thirst quencher, but add the salt and you get a complex mix of flavors which is amazing for a drink with just two ingredients.

The Monkey Wrench

You know, for someone who has pretty much chosen to exclusively drink Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, this is the first mention of the sugar cane based spirit of the blog. For some unknown reason, the third variation on this drink eschews the canine names in favor of The Monkey Wrench.

The Monkey Wrench
Rum
Grapefruit Juice

This is by far my least favorite of the drinks mixed with grapefruit juice. Maybe it also has to do with grapefruit juice being the least favorite of juices to mix with rum. Well, it's probably better than mixing rum and say, tomato juice, but I'd rather have my rum taken with either lime juice or pineapple juice.

The reason why I dislike the monkey wrench compared to the others is because of its sweetness. The grapefruit juice doesn't do as much as lime to cut the sweet of the rum, putting it on the sweetest side of the three drink spectrum, and I'm not big on sweet drinks (aside from the occaisional pina colada or banana daquiri).

Tomorrow I'll do the Salty Dog, even though you can probably infer what I am going to say, based upon these last two posts.

The Greyhound

I'm actually taking a detour from drinks Amis mentioned in his book today, mostly because I have grapefruit juice, and there are so many drinks you can make with it. Also, he talks about the Salty Dog a lot, and this drink is a variant.

The Greyhound
Vodka
Grapefruit Juice

Unlike the Salty Dog, this drink doesn't require a salted rim. I think that is what actually makes the Salty Dog the better of the two drinks. The Greyhound uses vodka to cut down the bitterness of the grapefruit juice and it does so quite well. It would be a great summer drink, but it's a little too bland for me. I guess I just like the mix of bitter and salty of the Salty Dog a little bit more.