By Rebekah Peppler, The New York Times
There are many ways to make a martini. Shaken or stirred. Vodka or gin. Wet, dry, bone-dry. But no matter how you make it, few, if any, have the cult following that the dirty martini has right now: There are $195 kits, hats and some variation of the cocktail on restaurant and bar menus everywhere.
The only problem? Between the gin — or vodka — and vermouth, this extremely drinkable cocktail is a heavy, boozy hitter — but it doesn’t have to be. To lower your dirty martini’s oft formidable potency, without sacrificing any of its signature brininess, flip the classic ratios and make a reverse dirty martini. Two ounces dry vermouth to 1 ounce spirit plus a quarter to half-ounce of olive brine is an ideal place to start. (This particular recipe also adds an aromatically complex pour of savory-salty fino sherry, like González Byass’ Tío Pepe Fino Sherry or Lustau Fino Sherry, for a balanced drink with a pleasingly elevated salinity.)
To ensure your lesser-proof drink retains its signature appeal, “make sure your gin or vodka has a good aromatic going on,” said Natasha David, the beverage creative director for Happier Hospitality and author of “Drink Lightly.” It’ll help you “still feel like you’re enjoying that martini experience.”
And because vermouth now makes up a larger part of the drink, you’ll want to choose a quality bottle. Contrary to popular belief, vermouth doesn’t last forever. Once opened, store the bottle capped or re-corked in the refrigerator and consume, ideally, within one month and no more than three. If you’re up for something a little different and more full-bodied, David recommends using half dry and half Blanc vermouths. “You get a kind of a little bit more of an emotional roller coaster with different things happening,” she said.
Finally, it’s not a dirty martini until it’s been a little (or a lot) sullied. Just as the spirit and the vermouth choices matter, so, too, does the brine. “You have to become a bit of a brine snob,” David said. She often reaches for Castelvetrano olive brine but doesn’t stop there: Brines from pickled red peppers, pepperoncini, caper berries and preserved lemons are just as appealing.
“When you finish a jar of anything, always keep the brine,” she said. “You will use it somewhere.” And of course, make sure it’s ice-cold. In fact, she added, “Temperature in all components of a dirty martini is vital.”
To achieve that ideal nip, chill every component — spirit, vermouth, brine, glass, even the garnish — from the start. Served ice-cold and dirtied to personal preference, the lower-alcohol dirty martini is just as at home on a weeknight in as it is on a Saturday on the town.
Recipe: Lower-Alcohol Dirty Martini
Dry vermouth and fino sherry make up the base of this lower-in-alcohol cocktail, while keeping all the flavor of an original dirty martini. To start, ensure everything (the bottles of dry vermouth, fino sherry and spirit, the olive brine and garnish) is nicely chilled and use plenty of ice to stir your drink before pouring into your (also chilled) glass. If you’re unsure just how dirty you prefer your dirty martini, start with 1/4 ounce brine and work your way up. Lastly, the small but aromatically complex addition of fino sherry gives the drink more depth and texture.
Rebekah Peppler
Yield: 1 drink
Total time: 20 minutes
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Ice 1 1/2 ounces dry vermouth 1/2 ounce fino sherry 1 ounce gin 1/4 to 1/2 ounce olive brine 1 lemon peel, for serving (optional) 3 green olives (such as Castelvetrano), for servingPreparation
1. Place a martini or Nick and Nora glass in the freezer to chill for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour. (You can also opt to fill the glass with ice and water, stir for 30 seconds, pour out the ice and water, and pour the finished drink into the now-chilled glass.)
2. In a cocktail shaker or mixing glass filled with ice, combine the vermouth, sherry, gin and olive brine. Stir until very cold, about 30 seconds, then strain into the chilled cocktail glass. If serving with a lemon peel, hold the peel by its long edges, skin facing down into the glass, pinch the peel to release the citrus oils then add it to the glass. Thread a skewer with the three olives, add to the glass and serve.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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