Salty Dogs

[Chris Amirault]

I had dinner at a fantastic local Mexican place (Chilango's on Manton Ave for those near Providence) that has a couple dozen tequilas available. One at our table got a pefectly serviceable margarita, but I spied a "Salty Dog" made with tequila, lime juice, salt (in the drink itself, clearly), and a Mexican grapefruit soft drink.

It was wonderful, particularly in the non-air-conditioned main dining area on that sweltering night, and it got me thinking about variations on the Salty Dog, which, in the standard vodka and grapefruit juice version, is pretty pedestrian (here's the version at cocktaildb.com). Google tells me that there are a few others out there with gin, and some other "salty chihuahuas" and the like.

What variations on the salty dog do you crave on hot days? I'm going in search of that grapefruit soda later today -- fingers crossed.

edited to add: I just found this reference by our own Katie Loeb to a Paloma, created by David Wondrich (aka Splificator). Proportions, anyone?

Edited September 5, 2006 by chrisamirault (log)

[eje]

[...]

What variations on the salty dog do you crave on hot days? I'm going in search of that grapefruit soda later today -- fingers crossed.

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I've read the most popular tequila drink in Mexico is Tequila and Squirt. Keep meaning to give it a try, as Squirt was my favorite soda as a child.

Another interesting mixer to try might be Ting, a grapefruit soda from Jamaica. I've started seeing this around in some stores that specialize in unusual sodas.

Trader Joe's sells a tasty grapefruit soda, if you have one of those in your neighborhood.

Paloma Recipe from tommysmargarita.com, scroll down. Build over ice in highball glass, Pinch salt, Tequila, 1/2 lime, top with Grapefruit Soda.

Edited July 3, 2006 by eje (log)

[Ktepi]

I'd always had the Salty Dog as a gin drink, and thought that was the standard until I ordered one a couple years ago and got it with vodka. It was one of my favorite drinks when I still had Tanqueray Malacca around but has seemed less interesting since then -- I don't know if that's because I liked the Malacca so much (I did) or if it really contributed something particular to the drink.

For grapefruit sodas, there's the Polar Half and Half I mentioned on the Drinks thread -- it isn't the same as the Mexican grapefruit sodas I've had, but it's a good mixer.

I like maraschino with grapefruit quite a lot, and Campari of course; not sure how either of them would be with the salt, though. I'd give the former a shot out of curiosity if I weren't down to my last few ounces of maraschino.

Oh, and further afield -- you lose the grapefruit altogether, but Sun Drop (a southern lemonade-like soda, sort of like Mello Yello), gin, and a salted rim makes a very good summer drink. I've been planning on playing with roasted lemonade as a mixer, too -- it has the body and bitterness of grapefruit juice, and I bet it'd make a great Salty Dog variation. I'll pick up lemons this afternoon if they're any good at the store.

[Chris Amirault]

The one I had was made with a Jarritos grapefruit (toronja) soda (click for an image). I'm on the look-out. We have Polar here in most grocery stores, though, and that half 'n' half idea is a good one.

[eje]

I always think those Jarritos (or Penafiel) sodas seem like a good idea; but, end up putting them back in the cooler after reading the ingredient list. Get an Agua Fresca or a beer.

I dunno about the grapefruit one; but, a lot of them seem to have pretty tenuous connections to the natural ingredients they are supposed to represent. I know I've looked at some of the varieties and realized they have only artificial flavors and/or colors.

Edited July 3, 2006 by eje (log)

[maggiethecat]

Cue cawing seagulls, and the lyrics of the only rock band that could actually channel Coleridge and H.P. Lovecraft -- Procul Harum, and their stunning song "A Salty Dog." A sample:

"We fired the guns, and burned the mast,

The captain cried, we sailors wept,

Our tears were tears of joy!

Now many moons and many Junes,

Have passed since we made land.

A Salty Dog, the seaman's log,

Your witness, my own hand. "

Well, that's the first thing I think about when I hear about Salty Dogs. The second thing is a long drink of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and gin It's not a terribly sexy drink-- a tad sour and mildly medicinal. But I love them.

Chris; Your version sounds great, except that I (my wrongheaded prejudice) think that vodka is a tasteless odorless gateway drug. I can get that Mexican grapefruit pop within three minutes of my house, and , thanks to your post, I'll pick some up tomorrow.

[Andrew Fenton]

Cue cawing seagulls, and the lyrics of the only rock band that could actually channel Coleridge and H.P. Lovecraft -- Procul Harum, and their stunning  song "A Salty Dog."

Whereas I think of another "Salty Dog", recorded by Johnny Cash (though I don't think he wrote it):

"Standing on the corner with the lowdown blues

A great big hole in the bottom of my shoes

Honey let me be your salty dog

Let me be your salty dog

Or I won't be your little man at all

Honey let me be your salty dog"

I've had the gin/grapefruit juice/salt drink, and I found it unspeakably nasty.

But Squirt and tequila? Now that is good stuff.

[Ktepi]

The second thing is a long drink of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and gin It's not a terribly sexy drink-- a tad sour and mildly medicinal.  But I love them.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one, then!

Last night, Half & Half, gin, a little fresh grapefruit, and cherry Kijafa made something less like a Salty Dog (well, a Greyhound) and more like a rickey. It was good but I didn't expect the cherry to dominate so much, which is why I left the salt off.

Way out from the grapefruit aspect but along the salt line, would there be any potential in a salted drink with something licoricey, anisey? I know some people go nuts about Dutch double-salted licorice, and the iced licorice tea I've been drinking lately has been surprisingly refreshing.

[KatieLoeb]

I've been very into the grapefruit soda as a mixer lately, as I'd mentioned in another thread. It's Fresca for me, or the Wegman's brand called Wedge.

The Grapefruit/cherry combo has been getting a workout too. I like the idea of using the cherry Kijafa! Everyone always wonders what to do with that dusty bottle. A local restaurant here in Philly makes what they call a Cuban Manhattan with anejo rum and cherry kijafa. It's pretty tasty.

So is the official name of the drink with the salted rim, grapefruit and tequila a Salty Chihuahua? I kind of like that!

[Ktepi]

I've been very into the grapefruit soda as a mixer lately, as I'd mentioned in  another thread.  It's Fresca for me, or the Wegman's brand called Wedge.

The Grapefruit/cherry combo has been getting a workout too.  I like the idea of using the cherry Kijafa!  Everyone always wonders what to do with that dusty bottle.  A local restaurant here in Philly makes what they call a Cuban Manhattan with anejo rum and cherry kijafa.  It's pretty tasty.

So is the official name of the drink with the salted rim, grapefruit and tequila a Salty Chihuahua?  I kind of like that! 

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I really like the Kijafa with maraschino and club soda (it's too sweet without the dilution, though lots of ice would do the trick too I'm sure) -- about the only time I notice any cherry flavor in maraschino is when I notice its compatibility with cherry, if you see what I mean.

Salty Bulldog -> Stone's ginger (this would probably be good)

Salty Poodle -> Lillet? Or one of those really French liqueurs like parfait amour.

Salty Beagle -> ... is there a peanuts liqueur?

Salty Scottie -> Drambuie

Salty Bloodhound -> Bull's Blood

So the Kijafa would make a Salty Great Dane, I guess.

[Chris Amirault]

Chris; Your version sounds great, except that I (my wrongheaded prejudice) think that vodka is a tasteless odorless gateway drug. 

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I completely agree, Maggie -- uptopic you'll see I was describing one with tequila, not vodka. The in-laws picked up some grapefruit Grown-Up Soda at the store, and we're got some (no cracks, please) Jose Cuervo tequila in the cabinet. I'll report back later on the results.

[phlip]

I like making my grapefruit soda with fresh grapefruit juice simple syrup to taste and club soda. it works great in palomas or if your just really thirsty by itself.

[Chris Amirault]

The Grown-Up Soda was disappointing: flat, not very grapefruity, bad balance. I used these ratios: 1 1/2 oz tequila, 3/4 oz lime juice, 1/2 oz ginger syrup, pinch of salt, topped with the GUS. Needs work. I'm thinking that phlip's got the right idea.

[KatieLoeb]

Tonight's effort - a salty dog/paloma variant using the sour cherry syrup I've been loving lately:

1.5 Tablespoons Kosher salt

1 teaspoon chile powder

2 oz. anejo tequila

.75 oz. Marco Polo Sour Cherry syrup

1 oz. fresh lime juice

3 oz. Fresca

Combine salt and chile powder and rim a highball glass with it. Add ice to glass. Add tequila, sour cherry syrup and lime juice to shaker and toss gently to combine. Pour over ice and add Fresca. Stir gently and enjoy.

My lips are still tingling from my last drink. Sweet, salty, spicy and tart all at once, with the tequila tying it all together. Muy refrescoso!!

[Ktepi]

I know it's a little early, but ... curiosity got the better of me. And I work at home.

Roasted Lemonade Salty Dog -- salted rim, 2 oz gin, fill the glass with roasted lemonade.

(Roasted lemonade: wash well and halve lemons, place in an oven-safe dish and partially cover with water and about as much sugar as you usually put in a pitcher of lemonade, bake for an hour-ish, cool, blend half the lemons and all the pulp and liquid, strain, add 1 lemon's worth of fresh juice; adjust to taste with simple syrup and more lemon juice.)

The roasted lemonade has the same body and bitter/sweet/sour balance as white grapefruit juice, which is why I thought it would be good here and closer to a Salty Dog than a Tom Collins.

It's really good, really refreshing. I'll try one with maraschino later.

[eje]

Oddly, Palomas have been swooping by everywhere, it seems.

Here, Drinkboy forums, Martini Republic yesterday.

Inspired me to search out some Squirt on the way home. Quite tasty!

[raxelita]

Diner in Brooklyn makes a rosemary salty dog with muddled rosemary, ketel, fresh grapefruit and salt rim.

[Chris Amirault]

Have a party tonight at which I'll be serving the following salty dog:

2 oz anejo tequila (Sauza Conmemorativo I got on sale)

3/4 oz lime

3/4 oz ginger syrup

1t kosher salt

Those four ingredients are the base that I'm bottling and chilling to be added in 4 oz pours atop ice, with glasses then filled with Polar Half & Half. I'll probably fiddle some more with this afterwards....

[Priscilla]

I have always known (and loved) a Salty Dog to be a vodka-grapefruit juice drink, with a salt rim.

At least, this was what I learned years ago from the Ladies (of a Certain Age) Who (Drink Their) Lunch at the erstwhile tea room in the erstwhile May Company department store on the Miracle Mile, its magnificent Deco shell preserved as the LACMA annex.

Personally, I wouldn't have wanted to argue with 'em, about anything, particularly as "lunch" wore on, as it would.

Fresh grapefruit is of course used by all the best people; however I endeavor to keep a shelf-stable bottle of Tree-Top 100% on hand for emergencies.

[ThinkingBartender]

I found this today in the "Mansfield News Journal," 18th July 1952.

"George [Jessel], was fortifying himself against Republicans with a strange potion out of a champagne glass. He let me have a taste, and after bystanders had turned the fire extinguishers on me and successfully resorted to resuscitation, he explained, that this drink was a Salty Dog."

"It is a little something of my own invention," he said, "Just half fresh grapefruit juice, half vodka and a dash of salt, and you think any Democrat can win."

Anyone else have any information on the origins of the Salty Dog?

Cheers!

George

[Splificator]

I wouldn't go putting too much credence in George Jessel--read further in that same article and you'll see that he also claimed to have invented the Bloody Mary, which is patently false. Plus, there's the story that the Salty Dog was invented by some war correspondents in China during World War II (thus sportswriter Norris Anderson, who was there).

[ThinkingBartender]

Yes, I did see the bit about George Jessel claiming the Bloody Mary. But have you seen the following excerpt?:

Ferdinand Petiot was profiled in The New Yorker, 18 July 1964, Petoit explains:

“I initiated the Bloody Mary of today,” he told us. “George Jessel said he created it, but it was really nothing but vodka and tomato juice when I took it over. I cover the bottom of the shaker with four large dashes of salt, two dashes of black pepper, two dashes of cayenne pepper, and a layer of Worcestershire sauce; I then add a dash of lemon juice and some cracked ice, put in two ounces of vodka and two ounces of thick tomato juice, shake, strain, and pour. We serve a hundred to a hundred and fifty Bloody Marys a day here in the King Cole Room and in the other restaurants and the banquet rooms.”

If Petiot is to be believed, and if this article is truly based on a real interveiw with Petiot then it is a confession from the horse's mouth. I side with Jessel, as I have yet to see any proof that Petiot invented the Bloody Mary.

Buckets O'blood, chicago nightclubs, can't find anything in the actual time period. Nothing in MacElhones books. Whats a boy to think?

On a difference note, I recently "found" Petiots Obituary:

January 8th 1975.

Fernand Petiot, bartender, dies.

(UPI) - Fernand Petiot, who invented the Bloody Mary coctail, will be buried here today. Petiot suffered a stroke and died Monday. He was 74.

Petiot was born Feb. 18, 1900, in Paris, and began his bartending career at Harry's Bar in Paris -- a tavern frequented by American celebrities and journalists -- and came to Ohio in 1928 as assistant manager of the Canton Club, a businessman's luncheon club.

In 1933 he went to New York City to become head bartender and beverage and wine cellar manager at the St. Regis Hotel -- where he invented the popular drink made with Vodka and tomato juice."

Cheers!

George

[Splificator]

Against the New Yorker piece, there's the interview Petiot gave a local paper in Ohio in 1966 (where, of all places, he finally settled down--his wife was from there, but still). In it, he gave this account: “We had just been to a little Russian place in Paris and we came back to Harry's to try to mix something with vodka." They mixed vodka and tomato juice. "It wasn't so bad, so we began to talk about a name for it.” According to Petiot, it was named by Roy Barton, an American entertainer (and I.B.F. #7), who named it in tribute to the Bucket of Blood, a Chicago nightclub.

Petiot moved to America in 1925, ending up at the St. Regis in 1933. In this interview, he claimed that he added the other ingredients--the worcestershire, etc--at the prodding of Serge Obolensky, the hotel's manager (he's worth a massive digression of his own).

Ultimately, you pays your money and you takes your choice. I can imagine that Petiot would be unwilling to call Jessel, a big star, a liar and a thief, but then again, I have no direct knowledge of Petiot's morals, either, other than the fact that he was an immensely popular and respected bartender during his thirty-plus years at the St. Regis. Bartender or celeb; take your pick.

[ThinkingBartender]

Well thats interesting about the Ohio connection, paris to ohio, ohio to NYC, then back to Ohio. Although I am sure another newspaper article somewhere is bound to throw that assumption out of whack.

If Petiot left Harry's bar in 1925, then he only worked there for 2 years max.

Shame that MacElhone (I.B.F #1, or was that someone else? Macintyre perhaps?) doesn't credit any Bloody Mary drinks in his books. Surely he would have known.

Cheers!

George

[Splificator]

I.B.F. #1 was indeed McIntyre--good guess! McElhone was #2 and Petiot was #3.

Petiot could have worked there longer--the bar was open before 1923, it was just in other hands--but two years is plenty.

Back to the Salty Dog--Norris Anderson was covering the Marines in China (he went on to edit the USMC newspaper during the war and was with Ernie Pyle on the day he was killed), and, according to E. B. Sledge's powerful and thoughtful memoir, With the Old Breed, "salty" was an epithet attached to Marines who had been long in the service, particularly in Asia. Hmmmm.

The earliest reference in my files for the drink, from the Santa Fe New Mexican, June 1951, makes it with gin. Jessel uses vodka. Not sure which came first. (There's also a tequila version--the forerunner of the Paloma--from the late '50s.)