Today is the start of the Yukon Quest sled dog race. It's a 1,000 mile race that goes from Whitehorse, Canada to Fairbanks every year. Each year it alternates starting in each city. This year the finish line will be in Fairbanks. We always enjoy going out to the field by our house and watching the mushers come through.
The other day I noticed that the Fairbanks Downtown Association was having a Yukon Quest cocktail contest. Unfortunately, it isn't open to everyone. Well, it's open to everyone for drinking. A couple of bars downtown are competing for the best Yukon Quest cocktail. Since I don't spend too much time in the bar, I decided to create my own Yukon Quest cocktail. It is a take on the classic Salty Dog cocktail. To make it a little more Alaskan I used Alaska Pure blueberry sea salt on the rim. I also added a little bit of sweetness with birch syrup, since we all know sled dogs are pretty sweet.
Best of luck to all the dogs and mushers running the Yukon Quest. Stay safe and warm out there!
Salty Sled Dog
4 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
2 oz. gin
1 tsp. birch syrup (you can replace with simple syrup)
sea salt for rim
Cut a wedge from your recently squeezed grapefruit and run it along the edge of a martini glass. Dip glass in sea salt. Fill a cocktail shaker half way with ice and add grapefruit juice, gin, and birch syrup. Shake well. Strain into prepared martini glass. Cheers!
Tasty. Birch and grapefruit are a match made in heaven. I did skip the salt and used the extra dry gin from the Alaska Distillery. A salty dog with no salt is a greyhound, so would that make the drink I made a husky?
ReplyDeleteLove it! I was thinking that using the Alaska Gin would be a great idea,but I didn't have any here at home. Great job. The name is great.
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