Wheadon’s original flagship infusion of pink grapefruit and rock samphire gin was designed by founder Luke Wheadon very much as a gin and tonic gin, with the citrus high notes and the underlying minerality provided by the rock samphire perfectly complimenting classic or Mediterranean tonic waters. That’s not to say that it can’t be enjoyed in a cocktail though; not at all. In fact, find the right recipe and you won’t be reaching for any other bottle. The Greyhound is one such recipe.
Often said to be as fast to make as its namesake, a classic greyhound is a long, tart, drink consisting simply of gin (or sometimes, latterly, vodka) and grapefruit juice served in an ice-filled Collins glass. First referenced (as with most classic cocktails) in Harry Craddock’s 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book as a variation of the much shorter Grapefruit Cocktail (which uses grapefruit jelly and a small amount of lemon juice instead of grapefruit juice), Harpers Magazine then published a recipe in1945 featuring vodka, sugar and canned grapefruit juice that they attributed to the Post House restaurant chain owned and operated by Greyhound buses.
At Wheadon’s home at Guernsey’s Gin Hotel, the Bella Luce bar team serve a great variation of a classic a greyhound cocktail:
Ingredients:
- 50 ml Wheadon’s rock samphire & pink grapefruit gin
- 25 ml of homemade sweet & sour*
- 3 drops aromatic cocktail bitters
- 100 ml of fresh pink grapefruit juice
- Garnished with a pink grapefruit half wheel or peel
Method:
- Fill a Collins or highball glass with ice cubes.
- Add gin, sweet & sour mix and bitters, stir.
- Top with fresh pink grapefruit juice
- Garnish with a half wheel of pink grapefruit, or a twist of peel.
*Sweet & Sour mix is a simple syrup and citrus juice mix, made by heating equal volumes water and sugar to make a syrup (one cup of each), then adding the same equal volumes of lemon juice and lime juice (one cup of each).