Friday cocktails - Dirty martini - a clean variation

Not my personal favorite martini variation but I know people who adore them.

The Dirty Martini features gin or vodka, dry vermouth, and olive brine. It's is one of the most popular savory cocktails ever created, and though it may feel like a modern creation, the drink has been a go-to Martini variation for over a hundred years.

As the Dirty Martini has grown in popularity, bartenders have increasingly begun to tailor the drink, improving the it with better technique and higher quality ingredients. That includes fresh vermouth and artisan olive juice.

Most frequently comprised of just gin or vodka and dry vermouth, the classic Martini creates an incredibly versatile and flexible template to experiment with. The classic Dry Martini is the standard bearer, but countless riffs take the drink in new directions, from the 50/50 Martini, which combines equals parts gin and dry vermouth, to the Perfect Martini, which includes both sweet and dry vermouth.

Each of these variations essentially revolves around changing the weight of the cocktail to place the focus on a different aspect of the drink. A Dry Martini favors the spirit, only using a minute amount of vermouth to add nose to the cocktail without softening the gin or vodka excessively. A Wet Martini or 50/50 shifts toward vermouth, creating a more aromatically complex drink with heavier body.

The Dirty Martini uses brine in much the same way we use salt in cooking, to accentuate both the sweet and savory components of vermouth while tamping down any bitterness. As the brine takes on natural oils from the olives, this also allows it to create mouthfeel and body in the Martini, without increasing the total volume of vermouth.

Here are the ingredients but vary the ratios to taste.

Ingredients

• • 2 1/2 ounces gin or vodka

  • 1/2 ounce dry vermouth

  • 1/2 ounce olive brine

  • Garnish: 2 to 4 olives