The Dirty Martini Recipe
for your table
Place the martini glass in the freezer for a moment, or fill it with ice to chill it.
Add ice to a mixing glass. Pour in the gin, vermouth, and olive brine.
Stir for about 30 seconds. When condensation forms on the outside of the mixing glass, it’s ready.
Strain the drink into the chilled glass. Garnish with two green olives on a cocktail pick, and serve.
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Email the Dirty Martini recipe to yourself so it’s handy when you’re ready to make one. You’ll also get a € 5 discount code on purchases of € 50 or more, for the glasses to go with it.
The story
The story goes that bartenders in New York were already adding olives to Martinis around 1900, and later a splash of brine, too. It only became really popular in the mid-twentieth century. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is said to have enjoyed being served one, though that’s mostly hearsay. There are few reliable dates. What is clear is that the cocktail only really took off when vodka came onto the scene in the 1960s. With the martini revival of recent years, it’s back on almost every menu.
The right glass
A Dirty Martini is served in the same glass as a Dry Martini: a martini glass with a cone-shaped bowl on a long stem. The stem serves a real purpose here. There’s no ice in the drink, so you’ll feel every warm finger on the bowl. We recommend a glass of 19 to 21 cl. Larger glasses may seem generous, but the last sip will be lukewarm. The wide opening lets you smell the olive and herbs straight away. Prefer a smaller glass with a rounded bowl that’s less likely to spill? Take a look at our Nick and Nora glasses.
RCR Timeless Martini Glass 21 cl (6 pieces)
Onis Spksy Martini Glass 19 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 70,90.
The right tools
For a Dirty Martini, besides the glass, you’ll need a mixing glass, a bar spoon for stirring, a jigger for precise measuring, a Julep strainer, and cocktail picks. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you’ll find them all in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
The strainer that goes with a mixing glass
Glassware set (our choice 01) + 5 bar tools together € 128,70.
Variations & twists
Use vodka instead of gin and it will be cleaner and more neutral, letting the salty notes stand out even more. A Filthy Martini calls for around 3 cl of brine. That’s almost soup. A Gibson has a cocktail onion in the glass instead of an olive. If in doubt, start with half a centiliter of olive brine. The base recipe is on our Dry Martini page. If you’d prefer a softer, more herbal martini, try making a Martinez or a Tuxedo.
Serving tip
Chill the glass and keep the gin in the freezer. Use brine from a jar of good olives. Liquid from a can often tastes metallic. Fish the olives out with a clean spoon, so the rest of the jar stays fresh longer.
Good to know
What makes a martini dirty
There’s one difference from a Dry Martini: olive brine. That’s the salty liquid the green olives sit in in the jar. It makes the drink cloudy rather than clear. The salt takes the sharp edge off the gin, making it taste rounder and more savory. It doesn’t make it sweeter. Everything else stays the same: lots of gin, a little dry vermouth, stirred until ice-cold and served without ice in the glass. Garnish with an olive. A lemon twist doesn’t go with all that salt.
Extra dirty Martini: how much brine should you add?
Extra dirty simply means more olive brine. A standard Dirty Martini gets about 1.5 centiliters. For an extra dirty, use 2.5 to 3 cl, and some bars call anything beyond that filthy. Keep in mind, more brine also means more dilution and more salt. The gin fades into the background faster than you might expect. Taste it with a straw before straining. You can always add more, but you can’t take it back. At a bar, just ask for a dirty or extra dirty. Every bartender draws the line a little differently.
Make a Dirty Martini with gin or vodka
Either works, and they make a big difference. Gin has juniper and herbal notes, and combined with the salt, you get a savory, almost spicy drink. Just make sure to use a classic London Dry at around 43 percent ABV. A soft, modern gin gets lost in the brine. Vodka gives you a cleaner version. Then the briny notes and vermouth have room to shine, which is exactly why many people order this cocktail. Whichever you choose, stir it. And a bottle straight from the freezer helps either way.
Which olives and brine to use
Use green olives in brine, not olives packed in oil. The classic choice is Spanish Manzanilla. Firm and slightly nutty, with brine that’s salty but not overpowering. Castelvetrano olives are milder and sweeter, making the drink rounder. Olives stuffed with garlic or pepper really impart their flavor, so taste the brine on its own first. Jars containing only water and salt work best. If there’s a lot of vinegar or citric acid, your cocktail will taste sharp. Two olives on a pick are customary, but three is fine too.
Stir, strain, and pour
Even with brine, you stir this cocktail. Thirty seconds in a mixing glass full of ice chills it and dilutes it by about a fifth. That’s just enough to take the edge off the alcohol. If you shake it, you’ll get foam and it’ll turn even cloudier, and the texture will suffer. Then strain it well. A bit of olive or an ice chip in the glass would undo all that chilling. A fine Hawthorne or julep strainer does the job best; you can find them in our cocktail strainers.
Dirty Martini, Vesper, and Gibson side by side
All three are built on the same foundation, each with its own twist. The Gibson is a stirred Martini with a cocktail onion. It tastes savory and a little sour, but the drink stays clear. The Vesper Martini is shaken with gin, vodka, and Lillet Blanc, making it softer and more floral. The Dirty Martini is the most savory of the three and the least spicy. If you’re trying a martini for the first time, this is often the best place to start. The salt makes the alcohol seem milder than it is.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Dirty Martini?
It’s a Dry Martini with a splash of olive brine. The salty liquid from the jar makes it cloudy and savory, and the gin tastes less sharp. Nothing else changes. Plenty of gin, a little dry vermouth, stirred until ice-cold and garnished with green olives.
How much olive brine goes in a Dirty Martini?
Start with 1.5 cl per 6 cl of gin. If you order an extra dirty martini, that goes up to 2.5 to 3 cl, and the briny flavor comes through much more clearly. It’s better to start on the low side and taste before straining. You can always add more brine, but you can’t take it out.
Gin or vodka in a Dirty Martini?
You’ll see both often. Gin makes for a spicy, savory martini where juniper and salt go well together. Vodka makes it cleaner, putting the briny notes and vermouth front and center. If you choose gin, go for a classic London Dry. A soft, modern gin won’t hold up against the brine.
Which glass do you use for a Dirty Martini?
A classic martini glass of 19 to 21 cl, with a cone-shaped bowl on a long stem. There’s no ice in it, so keep the glass small and hold it by the stem. The wide opening lets you smell the olive well. We have them in our martini glasses.
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