Elevate Your Martini In A Major Way With Olive Ice Cubes

If you're a fan of martinis, then you know that olives are a classic ingredient as a garnish, particularly for dirty martinis. When you put an olive in a martini, the savory fruit helps to balance out the strong alcoholic flavor of the drink. Plus, it complements the flavors of the gin and vermouth, both of which are flavored with botanicals.

Now, while adding an olive to a martini traditionally looks like simply dropping it into your glass or skewering it onto a toothpick and adding it to your drink, there's a more creative way to add them: olive ice cubes. This garnish still adds the traditional fruit to your cocktail, but it also helps keep your drink cold.

The best thing about this trick is that it's quick and easy. As you get started making olive ice cubes at home yourself, however, there are a few things to keep in mind to make sure they enhance your drink.

To start making olive ice cubes, you've got to choose which olives you'll be using. Martinis are traditionally made with green olives, namely Spanish Queen or Spanish Manzanilla varieties. However, you could also give kalamata olives a whirl. This variety has a stronger flavor to it than green olives if you really want a powerful drink. Or, you could try black olives, although these aren't as salty and tangy as green olives and will change the flavor of your drink. Stuffed olives are another option, whether you opt for ones filled with blue cheese, pimento, or something else. Each filling gives your drink a different infusion and adds unique tasting notes.

The olives aren't the only ingredient that goes into your drink; you also need to think about the liquid you'll use. You can use just water, for instance, to keep things simple. Or, you can add a bit of olive brine to the water to help prevent your drink from getting too watered down as the ice melts. For those who love dirty martinis, you may want to skip the water and pour in that salty olive juice. Another option is to add a bit of vermouth to the water you put in your ice cube tray. Just make sure there's water in there as well as the alcohol so that it can freeze properly. 

Once you've selected your ingredients, it's time to break out the ice cube tray. Bigger trays will allow you to use more olives at once, but the resulting ice could have issues fitting into your glass. On the other hand, smaller ice cube trays may only hold one olive (or even half an olive), but it means you may be able to use more than one cube in your beverage. You can also play around with shaped molds, such as circles or squares, rather than the standard rectangles.

Whichever you choose, you'll then add the olives to each cube and pour your chosen liquid on top of them, making sure the olives are completely covered. Then, pop them in the freezer and leave them until they're frozen solid. Note that if you used a bit of alcohol mixed with water to make your ice cubes, it may need to freeze at colder temperatures (below zero) and for more time to turn completely solid.

When the ice cubes are frozen, it's time to pop them into your drink. You can do a shaken martini and use the cubes in your tumbler before adding one or two of them to a martini glass. Or, you can add them straight to the cup for a poured drink. You can also move away from just using them in martinis and add them to a Bloody Mary, a Campari spritz, or any other savory cocktail.