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Dirty Martini. James Thurber said: “One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough.” And wasn’t it W.C. Fields who said: “Buy me a drink and I’ll sing like a canary”? Only these days– with all this new technology, I think the more apt quote might be: “Buy me a drink and I’ll tweet like a canary”

Which is a very funny line and one I have been using for a years, but nobody ever laughed at it before, let alone took me up on it. That is until the geniuses at Dirty Sue, got a slightly inebriated tweet from me several weeks ago. How many times have I said Twitter is not for happy hour, because those tweets can only lead to trouble?

Well maybe not always trouble, because it turns out I am going to live to eat those words, or rather I should say drink those words. Because my tweets led to the offer of a Sippity Sup sample of Dirty Sue Olive Juice, which in turn led to the lovely libation you see right here on this page, The Dirty Martini. Which further leads me to offer you a simple recipe for a classic cocktail that is having a resurgence right now. And I can’t help but wonder if this product from Dirty Sue might have something to do with this cocktail’s reintroduction to the hottest clubs and swankiest parties in Los Angeles.

Dirty Sue is The Original Premium Olive Juice. Like all great stories involving some sort of comeback kid, this one came about rather innocuously. It seems that on an otherwise regular shift at the hip and happen’ Los Angeles restaurant, Jones Hollywood. Bartender Eric Tecosky reached for the gallon jar of olives and realized it was full of olives but void of olive juice. He looked at his long time friend and co-worker Terry Faded and asked, “How come no one bottles olive juice?”

One year and countless tastings later, Dirty Sue was born.

Dirty Martinis have been popular since the days of F.D.R. when he was said to have served one to Stalin. Now that’s delicious irony! So no one wants to mess with that. Nope, the goal of Dirty Sue (in their own words) is ” to offer consumers a better olive juice product for Dirty Martinis than they were used to settling for”.

Most fans of Dirty Martinis have the same problem these guys had; they run out of olive juice long before they run out of olives. Which is only half of the battle. The real problem is quality. Olive juice (or brine) was originally packed in the jars to keep the olives from spoiling– not to be used in a cocktail. The quality of that brine is low and barely discernible from salt water. Dirty Sue is twice-filtered premium olive juice that has been created for the sole purpose of making the perfect Dirty Martini.

Dirty Martini serves 1 CLICK here for a printable recipe

• 2 oz gin or vodka
• 1/2 oz extra-dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz Dirty Sue olive juice
• 1 or 2 green olives as garnish

Pour the liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with cracked ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with olives.

SERIOUS FUN FOOD

Greg Henry

Sippity Sup