Behind the Beverage: The Smoggy Martini at Bar Mara

Smoky, luxurious and intentionally over-the-top, the Smoggy Martini at Bar Mara, the cocktail lounge complementing Mara at Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis is a layered cocktail thanks to a trio of intentional ingredients: smoked olive brine, Ketel One vodka, and most important, its garnish: the five-dollar olive.

Leaning into the Mediterranean flavors of Mara, the Cerignola green olive, also known as the “olive lover’s olive,” is extra-large, with a good balance of pepper and fruit notes. The olive is served with the pit to retain freshness and texture of the drink, while the cold-smoke process and a Champagne brine for at least 48-hours help create a racy elegance that makes this Martini pop.

The Smoggy Martini is intended to be the house Dirty Martini, says Pip Hanson, bar manager of Bar Mara. “Prohibition-era cocktail bars often turn their nose up at the Dirty Martini, but I think that’s because it represents a different approach to balance — maybe a more difficult one. It’s hard to find anything like it in the pre-FDR canon: Everything prior had sugar, very little had salt. That also makes it an opportunity,” he says. 

Smoked olive brine is the best way that Hanson could imagine making a Dirty Martini even dirtier, and it “sounds so good on paper that I think Dirty Martini-lovers seem unable to resist it, or a second or third.” The smoked “five-dollar olives” are Hanson’s attempt at answering the question, “what would an olive lover want in their Martini?”

Green Cerignolas, sometimes as large as apricots, are unpitted, necessitating a tiny three-pronged fork instead of a pick to secure them, Hanson says. “The olives carry notes of lemon and spices in addition to smoke; we finish the brine with a splash of Taittinger Champagne for panache.” 

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