Attention Pickle Lovers: You Can Buy Straight Pickle Juice Online

Who among us hasn't cracked open a fresh jar of pickles and thought, "Gee, this brine would be a perfect beverage if not for all these pesky pickles?" Okay, maybe none. But in case you've ever wanted large quantities of pickle juice, good news: You can buy it online by the gallon.

Best Maid Pickles, a Fort Worth, TX-based maker of pickles and other jarred accouterments, sells their dill pickle juice by the gallon on their own website and for a premium on Amazon. The company encourages drinking it straight as a post-workout recovery beverage in place of typical sports drinks, thanks to its electrolyte content. "Before the world was drinking Gatorade, they were drinking pickle juice," the brand says on the product page.

They're not making this up. Pickle juice has long been used as a folk remedy by athletes and anyone else experiencing muscle cramps. It's true that pickle juice is a source of electrolytes like sodium and potassium, which can help your body retain hydration, but the cramp-relieving qualities are believed to be caused by the acidic liquid hitting a nerve in the back of the throat. There's clinical evidence that drinking small amounts of pickle juice can provide instant relief from cramps. And if you're looking for a more natural alternative to bottled sports drinks, pickle juice is typically free of calories and sugar.

If, for some odd reason, you've never Googled "pickle juice," you might be surprised to learn that it's actually available pretty widely online from both major retailers and specialty stores. A brand aptly named The Pickle Juice Company, coincidentally also based in Texas, explicitly markets their pickle juice as a sports drink due to its electrolyte and cramp-relieving properties. They, too, sell their brine by the gallon, but they also offer smaller bottles and "shots" for the pickle juice lover on the go.

Appetizing or not, it makes sense that there's a cult of popularity around drinking straight pickle juice. It's been linked with other potential health benefits, including antioxidants from the cucumber and blood sugar-balancing aid from the vinegar. Fermented pickles, made without vinegar, can provide gut-friendly probiotics.

The electrolytes present in pickle juice can also help mitigate hangover symptoms by helping your body fight the dehydrating effects of alcohol — good news for anyone who likes salty, briny cocktails. Tonight's pickleback could make tomorrow a little less achy.

Beyond drinking it straight as a post-workout drink or a whiskey chaser, there's a variety of ways to use pickle juice. Its acidity and strong herbaceous flavor make it work well as a cocktail ingredient. Replace the olive brine in your next dirty martini with dill pickle juice, or add a few tablespoons to a Bloody Mary to make it extra zippy. Adventurous home bartenders may want to experiment with other ways of featuring pickle juice in cocktails, too. Pickle spritz, anyone?

Pickle juice can also be a great cooking ingredient anytime you need a quick punch of dill, salt, and acidity. Swap mayo for pickle juice in tuna salad, add it to dressings, marinades, salads, and soups, or even use pickle juice to dress your burger buns. Or, keep the pickle party going and use it to quick-pickle some fresh cucumbers or other veggies. Simply add the new veggies to the brine and let them sit in a sealed jar in the fridge for at least 24 hours.