Why dirty martini

The drink is served in a wide, bowl-like coupe glass, piled high with cheddar and an oyster cracker. But Ciminello has no qualms with the concept.

Tagged: dirty martini , Martinis. Where olive brine once reigned supreme, modifiers like dashi and braising liquid have turned the Dirty Martini into a template for savory experimentation. I had a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head but the earliest practical experiments began with good friend and distiller Allen Katz, who owns the New York Distilling Company, based in Williamsburg. I wanted to create an olive distillate and I knew that he had worked some experiments on a small scale still before.

This seemed like an ideal collaboration. We ran a few test batches and finally settled on re-distilling a neutral grain spirit the same one he uses for his two gins infused with a lot of finely diced green cerignola olives.

The yield was frustratingly small and the entire process was like watching paint dry. What came out had only soft olive nuances. But again, we were making positive progress and the excitement was building. Then I reached out to Zach Feldman, a cocktail enthusiast and writer who makes various bitters under the name Bitters Old Men. He used olives from Spain, Greece, France and Italy, adding bitter components from wormwood and gentian root and the results were awesome.

Next, I wanted to create an olive shrub and put this in the hands of Brett Hughes — the bar manager at New York gin den, Madam Geneva — using the same olives as we used in the distillate. This, I hoped, would give the drink some body and texture while also adding some needed acid from the vinegar component. It is garnished with drops of olive oil, which float on the surface of the drink and it is given a final flourish with a spray of the olive bitters, adding a delightful wash of saline aroma.

As you can see by this photo, it is a spectacular looking cocktail that is also thoughtful, balanced, restrained and indeed elegant. Foto: Olives and devils via Shutterstock. Enjoy a Dirty Martini Next time you're out on the town or you host a party, try serving dirty martinis.

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The olive has its positive health effects, but it's hardly the reason why it's a necessary ingredient in a great martini. Bar olives used in the drink are preserved in brine and their salty flavor alters the taste of the drink. Martinis are typically garnished with three olives; any additional are served on the side. Are Martinis strong? A good martini comes from the quality of each of its ingredients: the vodka or gin, the vermouth and bitters if desired, and of course, the olives.

Most martinis use approximately ounces of spirits. Please beware, the martini is a strong drink, and should be sipped slowly and responsibly.

What is a martini actually called? A vodka martini, also known as a vodkatini or kangaroo cocktail, is a cocktail made with vodka and vermouth, a variation of a martini.

What is a martini glass called? A cocktail glass is a stemmed glass with an inverted cone bowl, mainly used to serve straight-up cocktails. The term cocktail glass is often used interchangeably with martini glass, despite their differing slightly.