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Calling all pickle lovers! Here’s the cocktail of your dreams: the dill pickle martini! Essentially a dirty martini with pickle juice, it’s a fun spin on the classic that infuses a briny, salty flavor.

Pickle Martini
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The other day we were out at a restaurant and something on the cocktail menu sparked our interest: a “pickle martini.” Since Alex and I are lovers of all things dill pickles and authors of hundreds of cocktail recipes, of course we had to give it a try.

This drink tastes exactly how it sounds—adding pickle juice to a dry martini infuses it with briny, salty flavor. It makes for one irresistible sip (at least for pickle lovers!). Here’s how to make one for yourself!

Ingredients in a pickle martini

A pickle martini is simply a dirty martini with pickle juice instead of olive brine. You’ll need to dial up the pickle juice for it to shine through, so it uses double the pickle juice versus our dirty martini recipe. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

  • 2 ounces gin
  • ½ ounce dry white vermouth
  • 1 ounce dill pickle juice (brine)

Best type of gin

A pickle martini will only taste as good as the gin you invest in! We recommend using a mid-priced gin here. Here are a few notes on types we like:

  • Malfy and Beefeater London Dry have a developed, botanical flavor that blends well in cocktails.
  • Locally distilled gin is a great option! In Indianapolis, we like 8th Day Distillery, Hotel Tango, and Big Heart Gin.
  • Avoid strong flavored gin. For us this includes brands like Tanqueray gin (very floral) and Opihr gin (spice-forward). These types of gin may not complement the pickle juice.
Dill pickle martini with pickle garnish

Serving a pickle martini

A tradition with the classic dry martini: it should be served ice cold. It’s not served with ice, so purists serve it in a chilled glass. Do what suits you here, of course! It’s not necessary, but it makes for an even more sensory experience. You can also serve a martini on the rocks (with ice) in an Old Fashioned glass: but we prefer ours straight up.

For a dill pickle martini, you’ll also want to serve it with a dill pickle or two as a garnish! Using a cocktail pick makes it fit well in the glass.

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Pickle Martini

Pickle Martini
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Calling all pickle lovers! Here’s the cocktail of your dreams: the dill pickle martini! Essentially a dirty martini with pickle juice, it’s a fun spin on the classic that infuses a briny, salty flavor.

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 drink 1x
  • Category: Drink
  • Method: No Cook
  • Cuisine: Cocktails
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 ounces gin
  • ½ ounce dry white vermouth
  • 1 ounce dill pickle juice (brine)
  • For the garnish: dill pickle

Instructions

  1. Combine the gin, vermouth, and pickle juice in a cocktail mixing glass (or any other type of glass). Fill the mixing glass with 1 handful ice and stir continuously for 30 seconds until very cold.
  2. Strain the drink into a cocktail or martini glass (purists chill the glass first). Garnish with an mini dill pickle.

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About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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