Originally appearing as a variation in The Savoy Cocktail Book, the modern Greyhound Cocktail evolved from a variation mentioned below the Grapefruit Cocktail. It was described as follows:
The following Cocktail, although apparently harmless, is sometimes liable to be snappy. It is a variation of the Grapefruit Cocktail.
Take three and half glasses of Gin and the juice of 1 1/2 good-sized Grapefruit. Sugar to taste, plenty of ice. Shake and serve.
The instructions here require a bit of interpretation, as a glass is thought to be about 3½ – 4 oz of gin. In other words, 10½ oz to almost 14 oz of gin at the high end. Using Death & Co’s interpretation that a grapefruit would result in 8 oz of juice each (12 oz total), we’ve got an almost 1:1 ratio of grapefruit to gin!
In the most generous of scenarios, this might be just a strong drink. To adjust this more for modern palates, we’re going to slightly tweak the grapefruit up to closer to 2:1 and adding an optional touch of simple to round out grapefruits that lack a bit of sweetness.
Greyhound
The Greyhound is bright, gin forward, and refreshing. The grapefruit here gives a more rounded, rich citrus flavor that pairs well with the spice and herbal notes. An ever so slight bitterness occasionally shows up from the grapefruit. The flavors are simple, but enjoyable and balanced. The slight help of the simple syrup is needed depending on your grapefruit’s sweetness.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
The concept of this drink is very straightforward, grapefruit and gin, adjust with sugar. As such, there’s not a ton to really cover about how to make it. The biggest adjustments to make are the amount of grapefruit and gin you’ll use, and adding sugar to cover the grapefruit’s lack (depending on the session and variety). The garnish is also fairly varied, with no real consistency other than some form of citrus.
As a final note, remember that many medications interact with grapefruit. Consider this before consuming or serving to guests.
- Gin – Pretty much any gin will work here, so go to your preferences. We used a Beefeater to emulate the style of the day (London Dry), but you can easily use a contemporary like Bluecoat for more citrus or Aviation for more spice.
- Grapefruit – For best results, use fresh squeezed. For more impressive color, look for ruby red grapefruits.
- Simple Syrup – Use 1:1 simple and adjust to your grapefruit sweetness / personal preference.