Pickle Brine Dirty Martini

The dirty martini is one of my all time favorite classic cocktails. While the dirty martini is great as it is, some bartenders and mixologists are trying other variations. High Horse, my favorite bar in Amherst, MA, once served a dirty martini with pickle brine instead of olive juice. It was honestly the best martini I’ve had and I’ve been meaning to try making it myself ever since. Honestly, you don’t even need the vermouth, but if you’re going to stick as close to the classic as possible then you may want to include it.

Aperol Gin Spritz

Whoa, it’s been exactly a month since my last post. Obviously, I just wanted to make sure everyone had the chance to digest the first half of Mad Men season 7 (Okay, fine untrue).

The real reason for my absence is simple: I’ve been lazy and distracted. I haven’t been drinking much; I haven’t been experimenting with spirits and I haven’t gone out much either. But, just last week I finally crossed off a task on my to do list: I bought a bottle of Aperol, took it home, and started playing around.