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Bartending 101: What is olive juice?

 

olivesWhen someone orders a "dirty" martini that means that they want olive juice added to their drink. Let's think about this for a second. If you crush up olives, you don't get olive juice. You get olive oil. So what is that stuff they call olive juice?

The liquid you find inside jars of olives is considered olive juice, but it's technically pickled brine. That's right, pickled brine. Pickled brine is just a salt and water solution and has an olive flavor because this is the liquid that comes in the jars that olives are stored in.

So when someone orders a dirty martini, what they really want is a little pickled brine added to their gin or vodka, dry vermouth, shaken or stirred and served up in a martini glass, garnished with an olive. Therefore, technically it's pickled brine that makes a martini dirty, not olive juice.

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, Bartender Examiner

Kathleen has worked as a bartender for the past several years in all kinds of bars such as: restaurants, dive bars, nightclubs, rowdy college bars, lounges, live music venues and even a strip club. In addition to being the Bartender Examiner, she is also the SF Bartender Examiner. She has worked...

Comments

  • Kristine 3 years ago

    This article inspired me.

  • MGW 4 days ago

    The pickled brine is a combination of salt, water, and lactic acid. It's the lactic acid that really makes the Martini "dirty." Adding only salt and water would give you a watered down, too salty concoction most would return to you.

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