A dirty martini can be many things: ice-cold, briny, savory, refreshing — and in unfortunate instances, murky, overly salty, terrible. But an eye toward quality, fresh ingredients and attention to detail have moved this often-polarizing combination of gin or vodka, vermouth and (a dirtying addition of) olive brine from loathsome to lovable.
“The dirty martini is so much better now,” said Jen Marshall, a Brooklyn-based bar consultant who recently worked with Abricot, a new bar in Paris. “Balance is key. The flavors should be bright, not muddy.”
Never a one-size-fits-all cocktail, a successful dirty martini hinges on the drinker’s preferences, from base spirit to brine to garnish.
Choose Your Base
An inherently strong drink, the martini’s dirty variation can be made like its cleaner sibling: with all vodka, all gin or by splitting the two spirits down the middle and opting for a half-gin, half-vodka dirty martini. If you’re looking for something marginally less boozy, try a 50/50 martini made with gin and vermouth.
Ms. Marshall often reaches for blanc vermouth to create a slightly richer drink. Opt for dry vermouth to stick closest to the traditional. Or skip the vermouth entirely and let the brine do all the dirty work.
Choose Your Brine
Attention to quality is one reason the dirty martini has cleaned up its reputation. While many bartenders now make their own brines, store-bought options include high-quality olive brines (packed with olives themselves) and stand-alone alternatives from companies such as Filthy or Dirty Sue. Try several to figure out what you like.
Or look beyond olive brine entirely. Ms. Marshall likes to swap in the brine from cornichons. “It already has the same build, what you’re looking for and what your palate wants,” she said. Brines from pickled jalapeños, pickled tomatoes and preserved lemons also work. To take the argument perhaps too far, if dirtying a drink means adding brines and their pickled garnish counterparts, an argument can be made that the Bloody Mary is one dirty drink indeed.
As for ratios, Ms. Marshall says that a quarter ounce per drink is the ideal place to start, pouring up toward a half ounce as desired. More than that risks moving the drink into salt lick territory.
Choose Your Garnish
Green Castelvetrano olives are a bartender’s darling. “They’re delicious and nutty and buttery,” Ms. Marshall said. “And, of course, the juice from those. One naturally leads to the other. Yum.” But if you can’t find Castelvetrano, add another green olive like Picholine or Manzanilla. How many you add is your preference, but Ms. Marshall is quick to name three as the magic number: “Two is not enough,” she said, and “four is too many.”
How to Make Any Drink ‘Dirty’
Dirtying doesn’t just apply to boozy drinks. A shot of cold-brew concentrate can take your favorite horchata to new heights, while still keeping it nonalcoholic. Another unapologetically dirty drink is this nonalcoholic dirty lemon tonic: a savory, bright blend of preserved and fresh lemon with dry tonic water. Should you prefer your drink lightly spirited, the basil vermouth cooler, made with sherry, basil-infused dry vermouth and olive brine, is a nice low-alcohol choice.
All told, there are plenty of savory, umami, highly drinkable routes to dirtying a drink —martini or otherwise. Find the drink and balance that works for you and get your bar (at least a little) dirty.