| Cocktail | |
|---|---|
 Two greyhound cocktails | |
| Type | Highball |
| Base spirit | |
| Served | On the rocks: poured over ice |
| Standard drinkware |  |
| Commonly used ingredients |
|
| Preparation | Shake gin and grapefruit juice in cocktail shaker. Strain into a highball glass. |
A greyhound is a cocktail consisting of grapefruit juice and gin mixed and served over ice. If the rim of the glass has been salted, the drink is instead called a salty dog.
History
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 alcoholic beverages was not so appealing.
Garnish
For the greyhound, twist of lime or lemon.
Variations
Vodka greyhound: uses vodka instead of gin.
Salty dog: has a salted rim on the glass and uses vodka sometimes.
Dalmatian: has black pepper syrup and vodka.
Some similar cocktails use grapefruit soda instead of grapefruit juice, notably the Finnish Lonkero (ready-to-drink mix of grapefruit soda and gin) and the Mexican Paloma (grapefruit soda and tequila).
See also
References