No Olives? No Problem. Dirty Your Martini With Feta Brine Instead

Remember Kate Hudson's 2022 TikTok video in which she asks for a dirty martini in several colorful ways? Now, imagine you're the bartender on the other side of the camera, and as you go to mix up her cocktail, you realize you're completely out of olives, and in turn, olive juice, which is one of the key components of the drink.

Panic sets in, and you start to sweat. There's no way you'd want to refuse the request from anybody, let alone a super famous actor, but how can you shake up the beverage without the one ingredient that puts the "dirty" in a dirty martini? By substituting it, that's how, and in the case of an absence of olive juice, we'd like to submit for your consideration the idea of using feta brine in its place.

Making the swap is simple — just replace the olive juice in your classic dirty martini recipe with strained feta brine. Since it's essentially salt water, it will bring that same salty flavor that olive juice is typically responsible for, as well as the signature cloudy appearance the drink is known for. However, that's just the beginning of what this savory liquid can do for the timeless cocktail.

In addition to mimicking the taste of olive juice, using feta brine as your dirty martini's soiling agent will also make it satisfyingly smooth. This is because the cheesy liquid lightly fat-washes the rest of the ingredients as the drink is shaken (or stirred) up, infusing them with the fat from the feta cheese.

The process has become increasingly popular, though typically, spirits are bathed in the fat of choice, such as peanut butter or duck fat, for several hours to infuse the spirit with its flavor. In the case of the feta dirty martini, that fat washing occurs for just a matter of seconds. Therefore, you shouldn't have to worry about your cocktail getting a complete cheesy makeover (though even if it does, some may find a feta cheese martini to be a bit more appealing than, say, the salmon-flavored martini that made an LA restaurant its home last year).

Needless to say, this unique cocktail makes a strong case for why you should never throw away leftover feta brine. However, if you happen to be out of both olive and feta brine when you're in the mood for your next dirty martini (or have Kate Hudson requesting one from you), there are plenty of other substitutions to try, like pickle juice or caper brine. You could even try pickled jalapeño juice if you want to add a hint of spice to the equation.