For An Extra-Dirty Martini, Grab This Frozen Essential And A Grater

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Whether you lean toward vodka or gin, for those whose drink of choice is a dirty martini, there is a definitive camp whose creed is "the dirtier, the better." Meaning the more olive brine, the better. For those folks, here's a take that may ruin any other dirty martini. Rather than simply adding olive brine and a few olives as garnish, hop on TikTok's viral grated frozen olives trend and give your dish an extra punch of icy, briny flavor. Talk about doubling down and then some on the olive angle. This granita-style hack is going to make your martinis absolutely filthy.

Start with your favorite pitted olives — green and meaty Castelvetranos are a great choice — and toss them into the freezer until firm. Then grab a fine Microplane and grate the jumbo frozen beauties directly into your cocktail shaker or glass. The frozen olives yield a surprisingly ample and fluffy amount of olive flesh, packing super briny delight into every sip of this modern twist that gives the classic dirty martini next-level flavor.

Part of the discussion about how to make a dirty martini is whether you'd like it shaken or stirred. A stirred martini tends to be clearer, while a shaken martini (done so over ice in a cocktail shaker) is crisper and more velvety. When using frozen olives, a shaken approach is going to be more successful, as the olive "zest" will simply fall to the bottom of the glass in a stirred preparation. If you'd like to take your frozen olive-accented dirty martini to new heights, consider "making it skate." This term means that after shaking the cocktail, you strain it while letting a few ice chips — and, in this case, bits of frozen olive — fall into the glass. The result is a martini with more texture, overall olive flavor, and bite.

In addition to bracingly cold liquor, olive brine is the magic ingredient that makes a martini dirty — which is why olives are a natural garnish. You even can up the salty, funky angle of the drink by stuffing your olive garnish with blue cheese. Steakhouses are known for offering this luxe olive glow-up, and it is simple to do at home by pressing some of your favorite blue cheese into pitted olives. Or, go molecular with your garnish and try making vodka-stuffed olives. If you'd like to plan an entire meal that reflects your dirty martini theme, consider preparing dirty martini chicken for dinner. Or, you may be content just savoring this frozen-olive-forward martini of your dreams.