Fermented Tomato or Pickle Juice Dirty Martini
Drinks
Feeds 1
Cook Time: 5 Minutes
Difficulty: Easy
I adore dirty martinis!
I think of these are real evidence that I have become more refined in my old age. The appreciation of the more salty, intense cocktails. The ones really lacking sweetness!
This works wonderfully well with any fermented vegetables or even kimchi. I have made them with fermented cucumbers, celery, sauerkraut and everything in between. As well as the pickling juice from just about anything pickled! Onions, beetroot, chillies, gherkins - you name it!
I think this tomato one is my favourite. The tomatoes add a lovely complexity to it all as well just a hint of sweetness which means you don’t have to worry about adding vermouth. So I make this one ‘bone dry’
If you want to ferment you tomatoes, its pretty simple. You need to get a clean and sterilised air tight jar (like a kilner jar). Place the jar on some weighing scales, tare the weight, chop your tomatoes and fill the jar. Cover the tomatoes with water and note down the total weight of the tomatoes and water. Work out what 2% of that weight is and that is how much salt you need to add to the water. You can add extra flavours, fennel seeds, chilli flakes or garlic if you like. Place some cling film over the top of the tomatoes and add a small weight to push them down and keep them under the brine. Seal the jar and leave it somewhere warm but out of direct sunlight for 5-7 days. You’ll see bubbles starting to appear as the fermentation/magic starts. Burp the jar every couple of days to stop it from building up too much and exploding when you open it! Then hey-presto you have some fermented tomatoes! Once you’ve opened it and the fermentation has stopped, keep them in the fridge.
If you don’t fancy fermenting anything, you can follow this recipe with the brine from any pickled vegetable and get a really similar finish!
Use a gin you like to drink. I often go for a spiced on with this but straight up gin is always a winner. Play around with the flavour combos - there are so many good flavoured gins available, the skies the limit!
You can have this drink shaken or stirred, it really is up to you! Dig deep and find your inner James Bond! I seem to prefer it stirred but it really doesn’t matter.
Its a great drink to batch up and keep in the fridge - saves making it fresh every drink!
Remember this is for grown ups only and to drink responsibly!
INGREDIENTS:
50ml Gin
50ml Muddled Fermented Tomatoes In Their Brine or Pickle Brine Of Your Choice
Dash of Hot Sauce to Taste
Olive, Fermented Celery or Gherkin
METHOD:
Make sure all of your ingredients are ice cold.
Pass your fermented tomatoes through a sieve or drain your pickles of choice into a cold jug or bowl (you can cool the jug with some ice or just keep it in the fridge for a while. Muddle the tomatoes through the sieve with the back of the spoon into the jug.
Chill some martini glasses with some ice cubes.
Add 50ml gin per drink to a chilled jug.
Add 50ml of the muddle fermented tomato brine per drink and a good dash of hot sauce.
Stir well to combine. Taste and adjust with hot sauce and a little more brine or gin if that’s how you prefer to have it.
Remove the ice from the glass.
Pour into the martini glasses and garnish with an olive, a piece of fermented celery or a piece of gherkin on a cocktail stick
Serve immediately.
