Episdoe 64: Greyhound

January 12, 2023 Tux Loerzel

2 oz Vodka
4 oz Grapefruit Juice (pink is sweeter and prettier)
Lemon or grapefruit twist

Pour the vodka and grapefruit juice into an old-fashioned glass over ice and stir to combine and chill. Garnish with a twist if desired.

We know that the first published recipe for a cocktail made with grapefruit juice similar to the greyhound was in 1930 in Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book. This recipe wasn’t called a greyhound though, and it was made with gin, not vodka. It wasn’t until 1945 that Harper’s magazine finally published a recipe for a Greyhound made with vodka.

As it turns out, the Greyhound bus line used to own a chain of restaurants called Greyhound Post House that were located in their bus terminals so people could eat during their travels without having to leave the bus station. When Harper’s published their Greyhound recipe in 1945, they wrote that the recipe was popular in the Post House Restaurants and that’s why they called the cocktail a greyhound. Who knew this delicious classic was named after a bus line?

In the following decades, greyhounds remained popular, thanks largely to vodka marketing dollars. In the 1960s, most Vodka brands had Russian sounding names, and they were worried about public perception during the cold war, so they put a ton of money into marketing and PR to help people forget the Russian ties. A large part of their marketing was finding recipes that were super simple and easy to make at home with just a handful of ingredients, which is part of the reason the Greyhound remains such a classic even to this day.

Episode 18: The Whiskey Highball

February 27, 2020 Tux Loerzel

2 oz Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
4 to 6 oz Soda Water
Ice
Lemon garnish (optional)

Fill a highball glass (8-10oz tall narrow glass) with ice. Pour whiskey over ice and top off with soda water. Some recipes insist stirring can squelch the bubbles in the soda, so there’s no need.

Garnish with a lemon wheel, wedge, or curl if desired.

This is probably the simplest and easiest cocktail we’ve ever made on the show, but that doesn’t mean this drink doesn’t have a rich and storied past.

Historian Jessica Norris says that “Most folks agree that the Highball started out as a sparkling brandy cocktail with the English gentry in the 1790s, when Johann Jacob Schweppe had just set up his first soda shop in London.”
Some say a bartender named Patrick Gavin Duffy was likely the one who brought the drink to the U.S. in 1895 in the form of a scotch and soda.

As for the name of this simple classic drink, one origin story claims it came from 19th century English golf club bars, where “ball” meant “whiskey” and “high” referred to the tall glass it was served in.
Other people say it may have come from nineteenth century railroad signals. On American railroads, if a globe or ball was raised up high on a signal post, it meant “clear track ahead” and showed the conductor that the train could pass through without stopping. As dining cars started serving cocktails in tall glasses, they adapted the “high ball” signal and attached it to this classic beverage.

Episode 15: The Classic Daiquiri

November 30, 2019 Tux Loerzel

3 oz. white rum
1 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup (1:1) *see note

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake well to chill and strain into a chilled cocktail or coupe glass.
Garnish with a lime wheel, wedge, or curl if desired.

note: to make simple syrup heat equal parts sugar and water until sugar is completely dissolved. Cool before use.

The daiquiri is said to have been invented in Cuba around the turn of the 20th century by an American mining engineer named Jennings Cox.

They became popular in the United States during and just after WWII because rum was cheap and easy to find, while whiskey was rationed for the troops.

Daiquiri’s are also said to have been JFK’s favorite drink. He’s reported to have celebrated with a daiquiri when he won the election, and Jackie Kennedy is said to have trained the white house staff to make daiquiris just the way they liked them.