Say goodbye to boring mocktails, overused bottles of grenadine and prepacked sodas. Welcome to the golden age of non-alc cocktails.
Non-alc, or ‘temperance drinks’ as they were called back in the day, aren’t new inventions. Some might argue that the non-alc cocktail alternative has been around just as long as their alcoholic counterparts. However, what’s happening with non-alc cocktails right now is truly exciting.
Instead of mixing various fruit juices, bitters and grenadines in a glass of ice, we’re seeing very boutique, very hand-crafted, very lovingly-made non-alc spirit options. Enabling bartenders to recreate non-alc versions of traditional cocktails, like this recipe for a non-alc version of a Salty Dog. Before we launch into the non-alc specifics of this specialty cocktail, we need to do due diligence to the OG cocktail’s origins.
So, what is a Salty Dog cocktail? The Salty Dog began its life as the Greyhound, a mix of grapefruit juice and gin or vodka. And to be honest, there’s not much difference between what the Salty Dog is now and its former self. There’s only one differing ingredient between the two, and we think you can guess what that may be. That’s right, the cocktail’s namesake. Don’t worry, no dogs were harmed in the making of this cocktail – we’re talking about salt.
Salt takes some of the bite and bitterness out of the grapefruit juice. The result is a yum, light and dry non-alc cocktail. Perfect as a pre-dinner, or first course drink.
