Salty Dog Day Afternoons

I can never leave well enough alone. Maybe it’s an offshoot of being a teacher and having dominion over especially pliable minds for most of my workdays, but I always like to improve things. There’s rarely a recipe that can’t benefit from a dash of customization. Like the Salty Dog -- traditionally vodka and grapefruit with a salt rim. Classic drink, and fun to pronounce in a deep-Brooklyn accent. Bahkeep, two sawlty dawgs! I love the sour-salty flavor combination, but wouldn’t another layer make it that much better? There’s nothing like salty sweetness for hitting the spot on a hot summer evening. Like fresh kettle corn or a well-made margarita, the combination satisfies both ends of the taste spectrum. Salty rounds out sweet, while sweet tempers the salty. Add some sour and bitter flavors, like lime and grapefruit, and you’re hitting four primary tastes all at the same time. “Sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, all must be tasted,” goes the Chinese proverb. I think salty counts as pungent. Well, anyway, close enough for Chinese proverb work.

Sweet-n-Salty Dog
2 oz vodka
3-4 oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 lime wedge
Splash Rose’s Sweet Lime Juice
Salt and sugar mixture for the rim

Rub the lime wedge on the rim of a highball glass, then coat with sugar-salt mixture. Combine vodka, grapefruit juice, and sweetened lime juice in a shaker filled with ice. Squeeze in the juice from the fresh lime wedge. Shake well, then gently pour into the highball glass, taking care not to disturb that precious sugar-salt rim.