Another Friday is here!  Normally I would want to wind down after a long week with a cold pint, especially since it is almost May, but Mother Nature has had a different plan for us, this week we had to pull our winter coats out of storage.  Brrrr (we actually woke up to snow on Monday!)

Since cold pints on a patio are out of the question, I think that the brininess of a dirty Martini is more in order!

Martini’s are one of those drinks that always look so good in the movies, but when you actually have one, you really wonder what all the fuss is about.  A classic martini is made with gin and vermouth and served with a twist of lemon or an olive.  It is also acceptable to make a martini with vodka (which is how I prefer my martini’s).

According to Wikipedia “It was Prohibition and the relative ease of illegal gin manufacturing that led to the martini’s rise as the predominant cocktail of the mid 20th century in the United States.”  Interesting…

Over the years I have tried a few different martini’s, but found that I didn’t really enjoy the taste of pure alcohol.  I thought I would enjoy them with a lemon twist, but even the tartness of lemon couldn’t make these drinks appealing to me.

I found my martini of preference by chance. Jamie and I were out for dinner at The Keg.  It was a Saturday night and the place was packed, but we found prime seats at the bar while we were waiting for our table.  We knew that we would have wine with dinner, but thought that we would order a cocktail while we were waiting. (We had taken a cab to the restaurant)  As we looked over the cocktail menu, the Dirty Martini caught our attention.  A martini, made with vodka, vermouth and olive brine?  Olive brine?  Well, we had to give this a try.  We figured we would go all in and each ordered one.  The bartender asked us how “dirty” we wanted it, so we said the dirtier the better (dirty = more olive brine).  We were not disappointed!  This drink was delicious.  The salt from the brine and olives really cut through the pure taste of alcohol.

If you enjoy olives, I highly recommend you giving this a try.  Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

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Ingredients:
makes 2 Dirty Martini’s

• 6 oz vodka (the best you have on hand – we enjoy Grey Goose or Ketle One)
• 1 oz white vermouth
• 3 oz olive brine
• 8 pimento stuffed olives

Directions:

1. Pour vodka, vermouth and olive brine into shaker with ice.
2. Shake ingredients together.
3. Strain into Martini Glasses.
4. Garnish each drink with 4 olives on a pick.
5. Enjoy Responsibly!