The 7 Best Pickle Cocktails | Alcohol Professor

Yes, the Pickle Cocktail Trend Is a Big Dill

Pickle lovers unite: from savory Martinis to Sours, these drinks are steeped in tart, tangy appeal.

Indulge us to take a little artistic license with the traditional tongue twister: that nursery rhyme hero Peter Piper was onto something—always pick pickles.

Behind the bar, that’s certainly true right now, where olives are sleeping on the shelf bathing in their brine while crunchy, jarred cucumber spears are having all the fun. If it seems like pickles are everywhere, it’s probably because they are. Sales of pickle-flavored spirits and mixers grew by 29% and 24%, respectively, over the past year, according to research firm NIQ, which indicates the flavor is skyrocketing. So what’s the dill with this potable pickle trend?

“Pickles and pickle brine are a trendy way to add that sour note in a savory way,” declares Chris Glab, chief innovation officer at Fermented Food Holdings, the parent company of California pickle purveyor Bubbies Fine Foods. “Our palate perceives sour as refreshing, so adding pickle brine makes a cocktail doubly invigorating.”

Pickles add pep, verve, and a salty tang to drinks. Bartenders are piquing our palates by infusing pickle power into cocktails via spirits, bitters, garnishes, and of course, that divine brine. Is your mouth watering yet?

Salissant

Recipe courtesy of Jacob Simpson, Bar Director, Bar Japonais, Washington, D.C.

Simpson says his inspiration for the drink on the menu at the D.C. hotspot that fuses sushi and izakaya with French cocktails was “to clean up the messy aesthetic of a Dirty Martini: cloudy cocktails, warm coupe glasses and stale cocktail olives.” Still bursting with briny flavor, his pristine iteration gleans its crystal clear appearance from cornichon-infused gin, saline solution and umami bitters. It’s garnished with a little bowl of the tiny, crunchy French pickles for a two-fer drink and a snack.

2 oz. Citadelle Cornichon Gin

¾ oz. dry vermouth (they use Boissière)

¼ oz. Lillet Blanc

3 drops saline solution (10 g salt to 100 g water)

2 dashes The Japanese Bitters Umami

Small dish of chilled cornichons, for garnish

Add the first five ingredients to a chilled mixing glass, add ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chill coupe (preferably one that’s been in the freezer), and garnish with the dish of cornichons.

Deli Martini

Recipe courtesy of Josh Gelfand, Western Portfolio Manager, Preiss Imports, Ramona, CA

Created to serve at a party honoring the late Chris Patino, an industry legend who recently passed away after a long battle with cancer, this libation uses dashes of the late barman’s unique bitters. “He had wanted to create something pickly, which wasn't just a brine, many, many cocktails ago,” says Jesse Peterson, co-founder of Patino’s Pickle Barrel Bitters. “We worked for two years to develop the right profile, the label, recipes, and he was able to see it launch a week before he passed.”

1 oz. gin (he uses Spirit of Hven)

1 oz. Polugar Caraway Vodka

1 oz. dry vermouth (he uses Drapo)

5 dashes Patino’s Pickle Barrel Bitters

2 gherkins on a cocktail pick, for garnish

Add the first four ingredients to a cocktail glass, add ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with the gherkins.

Cucumbersome

Recipe adapted from Shaun Traxler, Operations Manager, Cheers at the Old Post Office, Fayetteville, AR

Reminiscent of sunomono, a Japanese cucumber salad with sesame, rice wine vinegar and soy, this cocktail starts with sesame-washed rum, and gets a ton of umami from a housemade tincture made with shiitake mushrooms and shio koji. (We’ve substituted commercially-available umami bitters.) Cucumber ribbons that are quick-pickled and skewered give a nod to the addictively crunchy side dish.

1 ½ oz. sesame-washed Planteray Stiggins Fancy Rum (see Note)

½ oz. grilled pineapple syrup (see Note)

Bar spoon Pedro Ximenez Sherry

5 dashes umami tincture (can substitute The Japanese Bitters Umami)

2 dashes chocolate bitters (Bittermens, The Bitter Truth, Fee Brothers, etc.)

Japanese-inspired pickle, for garnish (see Note)

Add the first five ingredients to a chilled Old Fashioned glass, add a large rock and stir until cold. Garnish with the pickled cucumber rolled up on a cocktail pick.

For the sesame rum:

Combine one teaspoon of toasted sesame oil with a bottle of Planteray Stiggins Fancy Rum. Shake well and allow to set at room temperature for at least an hour and up to four, agitating regularly. Place it in the freezer overnight and strain through a cheesecloth or coffee filter.

For the pineapple syrup:

Skin and core a pineapple and cut into one-inch rings. Place them over an open, wood-fired grill and cook until tender and slightly charred. Combine in a blender with 8 oz. sugar, 16 oz. hot water and ½ tsp. of red chili flakes, and pulse until thoroughly combined. Allow to cool for an hour, fine strain and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

For the pickle garnish:

Use a vegetable peeler to peel thin slices of English cucumber. Combine them with a 3:1 ratio of seasoned rice vinegar and shio koji, and allow to pickle for at least two hours (overnight is best). To serve, roll them and put on a cocktail pick.

House Martini Service

Recipe adapted from Jacob Lesitsky, Beverage Director, Sugar Champagne Bar, Sarasota, FL

It’s only fitting that a caviar bar serves a cocktail that showcases the quintessential accoutrements in traditional caviar service—including crème fraîche. Lesitsky also adds a mixture of house made pickled onion, caper berry and cornichon brine, and a few drops of olive oil infused with lemon and dill. “Dirty martinis will always be popular, so to me it's a natural step to swap out the type of brine,” he says.

2 oz. crème fraîche-washed Ford’s Gin or Wodka Vodka (see Note)

½ oz. Dolin Dry Vermouth

½ oz. Dolin Blanc Vermouth

¼ oz. pickle brine

1 bar spoon Regnig Dag Aquavit

¼ oz. Seedlip Garden

Olive oil, for garnish (lemon and/or dill, if possible)

Serve with accoutrements including cornichons, caper berries, pickled onions, castelvetrano olives, lemon twist, etc.

Combine the first six ingredients into a glass bottle, then freeze at 20 degrees Fahrenheit for at least an hour. To serve, pour into a mixing glass with ice and stir for five seconds. Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass, garnish with the oil and serve the accoutrements in an oyster shell filled with crushed ice.

For the crème fraîche-washed gin or vodka:

Whisk 1 cup crème fraîche with ½ cup Ford’s Gin or Wodka Vodka in a large cambro or freezer-proof container. Let set at room temperature for four hours, then move to the freezer for at least 12 hours. Strain through a coffee filter-lined chinois into a clean bottle, and store in the refrigerator.

The Pickle Martini

Recipe courtesy of Stacey Swenson, Beverage Director, Nine Orchard Hotel/Corner Bar, New York, NY

A few years ago, French gin producer Citadelle decided to distill a small batch with cornichons from Burgundy; it proved to be so popular that the spirit is released every year. Here, it’s used in a super savory Martini variant which picks up a touch of heat from a green peppercorn tincture. If you can’t find Faccia Bruto Centerbe, substitute another herbal liqueur like Dolin Génépy.

1 ¾ oz. Citadelle Cornichon Bar

½ oz. Giardino Secco (or another dry Vermouth)

¼ oz. Faccia Brutto Centerbe

1 bar spoon cornichon brine

5 dashes Patino’s Pickle Barrel Bitters

6 drops green peppercorn tincture (see Note)

5 drops saline (4:1 hot water to salt)

Cornichon and pickled onion on a skewer, for garnish

Add the first seven ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a Nick & Nora glass and garnish with the cornichon/pickled onion skewer.

For the green peppercorn tincture:

Toast 4 oz. green peppercorns. Add to 2 cups of high proof alcohol, let steep for 48 hours, and then strain out solids.

Dill’s Miracle

Recipe courtesy of Pickle, Miami, Florida

On the menu at the new eponymous restaurant, this cocktail is the result of what would happen if a Gin Sour fell into a barrel of dill pickles. Bergamot liqueur adds a touch of exotic citrus taste, and a big sprig of dill sprouting out of the drink gives a distinctive, bracing herbal whiff.

2 oz. Hendricks Gin

1 oz. Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto

1 oz. cucumber juice

1 oz. dill pickle juice

½ oz. simple syrup

1 oz. lime juice

Dill sprig, for garnish

Add first six ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the dill sprig.

Pickled Whiskey Sour

Recipe courtesy of Bubbies Fine Foods, San Francisco, CA

This version of the Whiskey Sour swaps out lemon juice for pickle brine from the California pickle purveyor, founded 1982 by Leigh Truex after she began selling her Kosher dill pickles at local stores and farmers markets. “Pickles and pickle brine add extra chutzpah to cocktails and flavor without sugars or unhealthy additives,” says Chris Glab, chief innovation officer at Fermented Food Holdings, Bubbies’ parent company. “The current pickle obsession can’t be ignored.”

3 oz. whiskey

1 oz. simple syrup

¾ oz. Bubbies Bread and Butter Pickle Brine

Meyer lemon wedge, for garnish

Add the first three ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until well-chilled. Rim the glass with the lemon wedge, strain the drink into a rocks glass over one large cube and garnish with the lemon wedge.