The Greyhound Cocktail is one of the easiest (and tastiest) cocktails you can make. Check out the recipe below! The Classic Greyhound Cocktail has to be one of the most accessible drinks to make. It’s so simple but so delicious that you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it ages ago.
This was also one of the most popular drinks at our Mad Men party, which we held at our vintage home bar.
Side note: You can get an inside look at how the room looks in Karlynn’s latest post, How to Throw a Mad Men Party.
This drink was so popular that I had to refill the pitcher three times because we kept running out. Granted, most of this was consumed by just two people (you know who you are!).
As mentioned in my previous posts, Gin Gimlet Recipe and Classic Manhattan Recipe; we created cocktail stations featuring a character and a drink of their choice.
Here’s a look at the card I made, including the fun character profile, for Roger Sterling’s Classic Greyhound cocktail station:
These are traditionally made with vodka but also taste great with gin, so if you are more of a gin drinker, then by all means, feel free to use it instead of vodka.
There are different types of grapefruit juice as well (or so I’ve discovered). For Greyhound Cocktail Recipe, I’d recommend using Tropicana Grapefruit juice or something similar since it’s a bit sweet. You don’t want one that is too tart without enough sweetness.
There are two ways to prepare these. You can make the Greyhound Cocktail in a traditional martini glass as shown above (in which case, don’t use ice), or you can prepare it in a tall glass with half a glass of ice. It completely depends on whether or not you want to use ice and dilute it a bit.
Ingredients in a Greyhound Cocktail
- Stolichnaya Vodka (Stoli for short) or gin if you prefer a gin-based Greyhound Cocktail.
- grapefruit juice
- simple syrup
How to Make Simple Syrup
Here are some quick instructions on how to make simple syrup. It’s an equal parts recipe, so on a stove in a small pot, add 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water and heat. Continue heating and stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved. Pour into a container to cool and place in the fridge. That’s it! You can, of course, adjust according to how much you want to make.
How to Make a Greyhound Cocktail
- Add 3-4 ice cubes to a cocktail shaker to prepare your Classic Greyhound Cocktail.
- Pour 2 ounces of vodka, 4 ounces of grapefruit juice, and (optionally) 1 teaspoon of simple syrup into the shaker.
- Shake well.
- If you want your Greyhound Cocktail without ice, which is the classic method, pour it into a martini or cocktail glass and serve. If you prefer ice, pour over a small glass half-filled with ice.
- Serve and enjoy!
Click the links below to see all of the other drinks and read the write-up on the Mad Men Party!
And there you have it! All the booze that you need for your Mad Men Themed Party!
Happy (and responsible) drinking everyone! Love you more than Old Fashioned,
Mike (aka Mr Magpie)
Greyhound Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Vodka or gin if you prefer
- 4 ounces Grapefruit juice
- 1 teaspoon simple syrup optional
Instructions
- Add 3-4 ice cubes to a cocktail shaker.
- Add 2 ounces of vodka (or gin if preferred)
- Add 4 ounces of grapefruit juice
- Add 1 tsp of simple syrup (optional)
- Shake well and pour into martini or cocktail glass.
Angela says
Perfect recipe. Love it with fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Thanks!
Kim says
Just wondering why your cocktail is pink? Did you use ruby red grapefruit juice? If so you might want to state that in your recipe, since regular grapefruit juice is not pink
Jeff Tomlinson says
Delicious cocktail for sure. Highly recommended for those who like to rediscover great cocktails from the 50’s and prior.