OK But How Dirty Is a Dirty Martini, Really?

Everyone’s a dirty Martini fiend these days. But just how dirty is dirty? 

Well, Bar Rêve in Brooklyn has quantified it. At the recently opened bar, the Dirty Martini Chargé, made with “blistered olive brine” (a house-made batch infused with rosemary, garlic, bay leaves, dry white wine, orange and lemon peels), is the most ordered drink. Like at other Martini-focused bars, this cocktail is customizable—think Tigre, where you order by ratio, or Better Luck Tomorrow, where you pick your garnishes. Chargé, says Bar Rêve co-founder Victor Triebel, is French for strength or intensity. To order the cocktail, guests specify how “dirty” they’d like it on a scale from one to five. A “one” is made with just one-eighth ounce of brine; a “three” is the bar’s standard, with a half-ounce; and “five,” the most intense, adds a whole ounce. 

So that’s one codified scale, but how does that compare to other bars? Even when customization isn’t encouraged, guest requests are getting more and more… nebulous. Last year, for example, when we asked New York bars to share how Martinis were ordered, one reported a request for something a “little extra dirty.” How are you meant to make that? I took a not-so-scientific poll of a handful of Martini hot spots to hear how they compare.

At Bar Valentina on New York’s Lower East Side, where Martini drinkers spill into the streets, the dirty Martini is made with a half-ounce of brine by default. “We skew by a quarter ounce of brine only in either direction depending on request,” says Tanya Jamieson from the bar. Cecchi’s, also in New York, offers Martinis as part of a “New York happy meal” and has the same half-ounce default, upped to a whole ounce if guests request a “filthy” one.

In Palm Springs, Bar Cecil, which says it calls on a less-salty batch of olives grown in Northern California, uses slightly more brine: three-quarters of an ounce for a classic dirty Martini, a quarter-ounce for “not-so-dirty” and a full ounce for “filthy.” R&D in Philadelphia also calls on a half-ounce of less-salty brine from Castelvetranos, upped to three-quarters or a full ounce for a “filthy” drink, plus a sidecar of chilled olive brine; “part hospitality, part fear of adding any more sodium in their cocktail,” says partner Aaron Deary.

The new Chicago bar Kitty’s Cosmopolitan Club, meanwhile, calls for 30 milliliters (about one ounce) for its house version. “We also have an olive brine foam on hand from one of our low-ABV cocktails that can be deployed if the guest wants the nuclear option,” says beverage director Kevin Beary.

Supper Club in Portland, Maine, skews brinier, too. (“I’m a massive dirty Martini fan,” admits front-of-house manager Zakk Nix, “and so are the vast majority of the Supper Club staff.”)  Their standard gets “a shy three-quarters of an ounce,” but an “essence of dirt” Martini would get a quarter-ounce, while a “filthy” one would get 1 1/4 ounces. “But I have definitely hit two ounces for the freaks,” says Nix.

Where do you fall on the scale from essence of dirt to olive freak? And how much would you expect in your Martini? (For what it’s worth, the Punch-favorite dirty Martini calls for about a half-ounce of surprisingly oliveless brine, plus some salty sherry.) Let us know and we may include your response in an update next week.