Dirty Martini: Dirty Delicious with Bombay Sapphire Gin

The breach between a Classic and Dirty Martini couldn’t be wider. Said to be created in 1901 by New York bartender John O’Connor, who was inspired by the classic’s olive garnish, the Dirty found mass appeal across social stratas - from American presidents in the White House to suburban mums and white collar corporate slaves in the cities.

Eschewed by many bartenders and serious bars, it is suggested that the Dirty appeals to people who don’t actually like Martinis, as commercially available sodium-enriched olive brine tends to overpower any nuance of quality vodka. With that in mind, we set out to improve on the drawbacks of this century-old cocktail, and bring out its true elegance - really!

We looked at three essential elements of the Dirty Martini and pair it with the smooth and complex Bombay Sapphire Gin, crafted with exotic botanicals like coriander seeds from from Morocco and Grains of Paradise from West Africa.  

Dirty Martini: Bombay Sapphire gin, recomposed brine, Dolin Dry

Step 1: Olive Brine
As the taste of the olive brine determines the quality of the Dirty Martini, commercially made brines were not suitable. Using leftover or existing brine from various jars of olives also created a problem of inconsistency and unpredictability. Holding true to our philosophy of making ingredients in-house only when we can do it better, we decided to re-distill our own brine from a brine base, adding sea salt to get a consistent saltiness and flavour.  

Step 2: Olive Oil
While our re-distilled brine is delicious, it lacked the oily texture from muddled olives. During our experimentation, muddling olives threw up another layer of unpredictability as we got different levels of oiliness depending on how or who was doing the muddling. To give us more control over the final taste and look of the brine, we developed an olive oil syrup to add to the brine. 

Step 3: Olives!
Let’s face it, a Dirty Martini is, well, not dirty enough, may not satisfy the stans. We borrowed an idea from the culinary world for those who prefer it extra dirty. To layer the right amount of salt and umami in the drink, we created our own housemade olives stuffed with olives - with a boost from miso and cream cheese stuffed into the dried black olive crumbs within. 

With that, our modern Dirty Martini is born. Staying true to the Jigger & Pony identity, our take on the classic retains its essential saltiness yet balances with complex layers of vibrant dry gin - dirty delicious!