A BLtB Take on the Greyhound

Last night, while I was watching the Hounds Group during the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, I had a sudden hankering for a Greyhound.  Of course, we already have an actual greyhound -- "Xtrem Palazzo", better known around these parts as Nike.  No, this time I wanted a Greyhound, but in typical fashion, I took a traditional recipe, added a bunch of stuff to it, and made it my own.

One will notice similarities between this drink and the Harvey Wallbanger. The Harvey Wallbanger was the first alcoholic drink that I can honestly say I knew anything about.  My extended family has this tradition of going out to eat on a Friday or Saturday around Christmastime, and my uncle always used to get my mom a couple of these.  (Mom is an exceptionally happy drunk!)  Fast forward about fifteen years, and the Harvey Wallbanger became a bit of a staple during our "we're sophisticamacated drinkers! lol!" stage.  So I have had a bottle of Galliano in the house for a while now.

Galliano is a sweet, slightly spicy, and syrupy liqueur.  I never really was creative enough to come up with any other use for it except for Harvey Wallbangers, until this past November.  We were visiting some friends in Boston, and they had a number of advertisements for "absolute greyhounds" all over the "T" stops.  Thinking that a grapefruit juice/vodka drink was analogous to a screwdriver, it didn't take a huge leap to think what was the similar analogue to the Harvey Wallbanger.  Voilà!  Some tinkering back at the house, and this drink was born.  All I think it needs now is an actual name.  (What we came up with at the time, "The Harvey Gangbanger" seems uncouth to me now.)
 

Better Living Through Bitters' Take on the Greyhound

• 2 oz. vodka. I used Smirnoff Black Batch No. 55.  I know next to nothing about vodka, and this is what Kelly had in the bar.
• 3 oz. grapefruit juice.  I suppose this would be better with freshly-squeezed juice.  For expediency's sake, I used some generic "100% juice" from the local grocery store.
• 3 dashes grapefruit bitters.  I use Fee Brothers Grapefruit Bitters.  They are awesome, and really make this drink come together.
• Shake vigorously, with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
• Float a healthy amount of Galliano on top.  Probably about an ounce; enough to make a good circle around the outside of the glass.  I suppose this could be shaken in with the rest of the ingredients, too, but I like the change in density and temperature as you work through the Galliano.

A short note on the point of this 'blog

 I intend to use this weblog to discuss any number of my hobbies -- cocktail recipes, home brewing, locavorianism, wet shaving -- that in my mind have all started to become interrelated.  The name, "Better Living through Bitters", relates to my belief that the ancient, ubiquitous and yet oddly forgotten and ignored cocktail spice is as important to our understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of alcoholic beverages, as are any number of the, shall we say, more traditional mores, that harken back to an earlier, less automated, less consumeristic, and possibly more meaningful era.  My point-of-view on this has changed radically over time, and has been influenced by many of you.  I hope to share and create some new, "more traditional mores", with you in the future.