What a brine idea
Pickle and olive juices add interest to cocktails.
The power went off in my downtown apartment building on the first major day of Hurricane Harvey’s heavy rains. There were resident rumors it might be a while before electricity was restored. This was followed by a note from our building management about the nasty possibilities of rotting food.
Not wanting to face a biological disaster, I cleaned out my refrigerator. Good thing: The power was out four days. My refrigerator never looked so clean; it also never looked so empty. I grieve for the many things I had to throw out, including at least six jars of pickles and three bottles of olives.
Why so many? I don’t just like the actual pickles and olives, I love the liquid they come in. Brine is dear to me. I save all my pickle juice. Pickle and olive lovers can understand my attachment to these elixirs.
So can cocktail drinkers who know that pickle juice makes perfect sense for some cocktails and that the dirty martini wouldn’t be so deliciously scruffy without olive brine.
Today there are any number of companies who have caught on to the brine and olive-juice trend. Most recently the Greek food company Gaea is breaking into the cocktail-mixer industry with Dirty Martini Juice in two flavors. Dirty Martini Juice for Vodka contains olive brine infused with sweet and hot red peppers; Dirty Martini Juice for Gin is an olive brine blended with coriander, one of gin’s many botanicals. Bottles are $2.49 for 8.5 ounces and available at gaeaus.com.
Gordy’s Fine Brine for Cocktails is pickle brine in a 12-ounce can that has multiple cocktail uses — martinis, Bloody Marys and micheladas— and can also be used in salad dressings. A four-pack sells for about $16; Gordy’s Pickle Jar products are sold in Houston at Williams-Sonoma.
These mixers may be convenient for some. Me? I’m just waiting to begin my pickle and olive hoarding anew.