Welcome to March-Tini

Friends and family of Kinnon and Chris understand something about them - they both love a martini. This is why we have decided to celebrate March-Tini, where we riff on the martini formula by playing with different flavour combinations and themes. With these creations, we are pushing ourselves to find the limits of how much flavour we can put into a martini. One of the things that brought us together as a couple was cooking for one another, trying new ideas as we thought of them; we want to bring that same sense of openness and experimentation to your kitchen as well, and what better way than to show some experiments of our own?

As a heads up, we want to let you know that some of these concoctions will be a bit more finicky and may take a bit longer to prepare than your average dirty martini. There are a few instances of infusing ingredients for a day before. If this isn't for you, no problem. However, if you've ever wondered what it feels like to be a mad scientist, or simply want to taste new flavours within familiar alcohols, we've got your back!

The Pickle Martini is Born

If a pickle is a wonderful thing, a pickle martini is simply miraculous. We usually make pickle martinis when we are low on olives, or simply don't want to run out to the store for only one thing.

For this martini, we wanted to try to make the Ultimate Pickle Martini, amping up all of the best flavours of a dill pickle in the midst of the briny yet clean taste of an, ironically dirty martini.

First, we decided to infuse the gin with fresh dill. We figured that dill would pair well with the juniper flavour in the gin, and we were right! However it had a very interesting effect - the dill actually sweetened the gin somewhat, leading to a sweeter finished cocktail that caught us off guard. It was delicious, but certainly not what we were expecting. However, we were plenty happy to simply roll with it.

Then, we needed to decide how we would infuse into the vermouth. For this we infused the drink with garlic. Though vermouth is a fortified wine, it is still wine all the same, and cooked-off wine and garlic work well in most savoury dishes. This had a predictable result - the vermouth tasted garlicky, which was just fine for our purposes.

Finally, the "dirty" element was easy - pickle brine. If you've ever had a "Pickleback" shot (1 shot of Irish Whiskey, and 1 shot of pickle brine), or you have enjoyed a Caesar made with pickle brine, you are no stranger to pickle brine and alcohol coming together in beautiful ways. Our Ultimate Dill Pickle Martini welcomed pickle brine with open arms, and so did we!

We can't wait for you to try this cocktail, but first, where did the dirty martini come from?

History of a Dirty Martini

Per chilled.com, the dirty martini has a somewhat murky history. The leading theory as to it's conception is "in Northern California during the mid 1800's gold rush". It was created when a prospector struck it rich, went to a bar to celebrate his good fortune, and ordered champagne. The bar had none, so the bartender insisted on making something brand new. Thus he combined gin and vermouth with bitters, maraschino liqueur, and a slice of lemon. This created the "Martinez Special", or the original gin martini.

Leave it to the savoury-loving folks to take things to the next level; In 1901, a bartender named John O'Connor muddled olives in the glass, and added a bit of the olive brine. This iteration became a favourite cocktail of President FDR, and with the introduction of the "tax deductible Three Martini Lunch in the 1960's and 70's" the dirty martini became a public hit (and a regular pour for us at Winsome Ginsome).

Without further ado, let's make a dang drink!

How to make it

Mix, stir, strain, and serve

Place all ingredients into a mixing glass, and stir with ice until chilled.

Strain ingredients through a Hawthorn and fine mesh strainer into a chilled coupe.

Garnish with a pickle, and tuck in!