NYC’s Best Martini Is Now Available as a Spritz for the Summer

If you followed VinePair’s 2025 Martini Madness bracket earlier this year, you already know that we crowned the Martini at the newly opened schmuck as the best in New York City right now. The unexpected combination of gin with dry and blanc vermouths, Blanche de Normandie, shochu, and drops of olive oil impressed us on all counts, from creativity to quality. But in the dog days of summer, even the most devoted Martini lovers might want something a bit more refreshing.

That’s what the partners behind schmuck, Moe Aljaff and Juliette Larrouy, thought when they were gearing up to open the bar’s outdoor terrace for the season. Though they wanted to keep the spirit of the schmuck Martini intact, it was important to find a way to turn the fan-favorite cocktail into something more quenching for New York’s sticky, sweaty summer heat.

‘What makes the schmuck Martini so amazing is the atmosphere in which it’s served,” Aljaff says. “The greatest drink when you’re on the beach is a Piña Colada; if it’s raining outside or really cold and you’re in a basement bar, you want something with a brown spirit like a Manhattan or Old Fashioned; and if you’re on an outdoor terrace in New York City, the one thing you want is a highball with lots of ice and bubbles.”

To Aljaff, the refreshing, slightly bitter, and beloved summer favorite, the Gin & Tonic, seemed like the natural partner for the Martini, adding some much needed spritz to the equation. And unlike schmuck’s house spec, Aljaff decided to go for a Dirty Martini profile, since the flavors of olive brine and tonic complement each other well. The result was the Dirty Martini and Tonic, a combination that fulfills a gin lover’s wildest dreams.

But as we learned from the signature Martini at schmuck, Aljaff and Larrouy aren’t ones to serve a simple drink. Though the Dirty Martini and Tonic might seem like a straightforward sidewalk sipper, there’s a lot more to the cocktail than just gin, olive brine, and tonic.

Credit: schmuck.

First, Aljaff starts by batching the Dirty Martini component. “We wanted to make it easygoing, so you could have more than just one or two of them,” he says. “That’s why we made it a 50/50 Martini.” The base is split between Fords Gin and vermouth — a blend of blanc and dry, similar to the classic schmuck Martini — with olive brine. Rather than Blanche de Normandie, Aljaff reached for a pear eau de vie for this expression, adding a touch of light, drinkable orchard fruit flavors to the mix.

Balancing out the proportions took a lot of research and development, but the team finally found one slightly surprising ingredient that evened out the flavor profile.

“We tried to balance the recipe, but each time it had too much gin, too much tonic, or too much olive brine,” Aljaff said. “Then finally we figured out how to balance it, which was to add acid. Not with lemon or lime like a typical G & T, but with a white balsamic.” Aljaff adds less than half of an ounce of the vinegar to a batch, but the acidic, grape-based component rounds out the structure of the drink.

Before it’s combined with the tonic water, the Dirty Martini batch mixture itself is carbonated. This adds an extra level of sharp, crisp fizz to the drink. The two components are poured in equal proportions over ice and topped with three olives and a lemon peel.

The result is a bubbly highball that combines the best aspects of a Dirty Martini and a Gin & Tonic, perfect for those long evenings of outdoor drinking. But don’t worry, you can still head inside to try schmuck’s Martini Madness-winning house spec.

The article NYC’s Best Martini Is Now Available as a Spritz for the Summer appeared first on VinePair.