Cloudy, opaque or straight-up swampy — however you take your dirty martini, there's no doubt that the ice-cold icon has become one of the most popular cocktails of late. Now, the classic dirty martini is getting another upgrade that's perfect for those steamy days and nights: The dirty martini and tonic.
Instead of stirring ingredients and straining into a martini glass, this iteration of the dirty martini adds the usual suspects (gin, vermouth, olive brine) to a collins glass filled with ice, then tops with tonic. Essentially, it's what happens "when a dirty vodka martini and tonic have a baby."
As a G&T lover, I always keep a healthy supply of tonic in my pantry, so when I heard about this new trend, I couldn’t resist trying Dillon’s recipe for myself. The result is... surprising? The touch of salt and briney-ness from the olives, coupled with the effervescence of the tonic, gives this classic a lift. Plus, it was much less arduous to create (no chilling of glasses or remembering to leave a martini glass in the freezer) and nice and easy to build in one glass.
“The Dirty 'Tini & Tonic has really caught on because it takes everything people love about a dirty martini but makes it far more approachable,” says Geoff Dillon, founder of Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers, of the cocktail trend. “The addition of tonic softens the intensity of a traditional martini and adds a crisp, refreshing finish. It’s still bold and briny, but lighter, more sessionable and perfect for summer sipping.”
Purists might pour scorn on this dirty martini mashup, but I dare you to give it a spin — in this kind of heatwave, surely rules were made to be broken?
