Happy Hour at Home: Tattersall's New Salty Dog

It's the bright orange ray of light you need right now.

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Tattersall Distilling might not be open for your Friday happy hour gatherings, but they can give you a taste of brighter days from your own kitchen. If you pop into local liquor stores for a quick re-stock, you'll likely find the newest bottled cocktail from the Nordeast distillers: Salty Dog.

Like last summer's Bootlegger, this year's portable potable is meant to be easily poured and enjoyed without too much mixing. A salty dog cocktail is typically grapefruit juice and gin or vodka, served with a salted rim, like a greyhound with sass. What's in this bottle is vodka distilled with juniper and other botanicals, plus concentrated grapefruit juice that's never been frozen and grapefruit peels to impart all the good citric oils. There's also a bit of saline added to the mix which gives it that bit of a bite. 

I tried this bottle a week ago, in a different world, and I have to tell you how I've been craving its bright, fresh flavors and bracing zest. That slight hint of saltiness cuts me right. I've been saving it for today to treat my self, and if we could all be on a Zoom happy hour (we call this on-nomi in Japan), I would toast you with a Salty Dog Paloma, which means yes, I've added tequila to this. 

Beyond its pour-and-play capacity for brighter gathering times, it's really a versatile mixer. You can simply add your Pamplemousse LaCroix for a spritzy sip, or you can layer in other spirits: I had a Chairman of the Board which mixes the Salty Dog with Tattersall's rye whiskey and that was an eye-popper. Summering my whiskey consumption is never a bad idea. 

If you need inspo, you can always pull up a virtual stool to their cocktail app, with hundreds of recipes. But also know that the star bar team over there will be doing IG TV / FB Live cocktails classes for virtual happy hours on M, W, F, and Sunday brunch.

And on the COVID front, Tattersall will be releasing 1,000 bottles of sanitzer to their distributors today and 1,000 bottles to Mayor Frey on Monday to distribute to community needs and 800more to high risk groups. All in this together. 

Let's raise a glass to sunnier and saltier days.