This Salty Dog will get your tail to wagging
I was the nosy neighbor kid who was always poking around other people’s houses. My snooping, however, was largely confined to the kitchen. I was curious about what other families were eating. And drinking.
The day our neighbor Betty was getting ready for a cocktail party I popped in to see what she was going to serve. I don’t recall the food she was rustling up, but I do remember the cocktail: the Salty Dog.
It sounded glamorous in a decidedly suburban way. My parents and their friends would be into their Salty Dogs that night, and I vowed when I grew up I’d drink them, too.
I later found out it was nothing more than gin or vodka with grapefruit juice. Big whoop.
Except in the right hands, a creative Salty Dog will have you howling with delight. Like the one they make at Night Heron, 1601 W. Main, in Montrose. It hits all the right notes: tangy, salty, refreshing, a pinch of spice and just a bit sweet.
I think Betty would have approved.
Salty Dog
1¼ ounces Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka (infused with 2
tablespoons Tellicherry peppercorns for 24 hours) 2 ounces fresh grapefruit juice ½ ounce fresh lime juice ¼ ounce vanilla syrup (2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 2 vanilla
beans split; steeped) 6 dashes salt tincture (a saline solution of salt and water) Dash of egg whites for texture
Instructions: Place ingredients in a shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with a grapefruit slice or wheel.