TikTokers Are Adding Salad Dressing to Their Dirty Martinis and It’s Dividing the Internet
“Savory girls” are mixing up drinks with pickle juice and olive oil. They’re not for the faint of heart.
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I never thought I had much of a sweet tooth. I drink black coffee, crave tart grapefruit and often opt for a salty snack over dessert. But that’s nothing compared to what I see on TikTok these days. From the bottom of my heart, I know that I will never love savory flavors the way these dirty martini drinkers love them. They are not messing around — and that’s the point.
Dirty martinis, a combination of gin or vodka with vermouth and olive brine, have been wildly popular for a few years now. While savory cocktails are nothing new — think of the bloody mary or the michelada — dirty martinis have a unique appeal. There’s an allure in taking an ice-cold, crystal-clear drink served in a sleek glass and adding a splash of something murky — something you’re not even supposed to drink. The classic martini is suave, but the dirty martini is thrilling.
As the drink evolves, though, it’s becoming aggressive and outrageous in its pursuit of edginess. TikTok creators are incorporating ingredients like blue cheese, pickle juice and bone broth into their latest concoctions. You can see droplets of olive oil glistening on the surface of some of them. Many resemble soup more closely than a cocktail and contain practically as much vinegar as alcohol.
TikTok creator Alessandra Pizzorni is at the forefront of this trend. She might be best known for this week’s “Olive Garden Tini,” which features an ounce of the restaurant’s Italian dressing, a crouton garnish and a grated Romano rim. She’s developed dozens of other martini-style recipes inspired by things like pho, Taco Bell and Caesar salads. (Logan Moffitt adapted and popularized the latter.)
As with most divisive food trends, commenters belong to one of two camps: Those who feel seen and request more variations, and those who are disgusted but can’t look away.
“No cuz this is actually what I’ve been dreaming of my whole life,” one person commented on Pizzorni’s Caesar salad martini.
Others are truly afraid.
“This is like a boozy salad dressing and you scare me,” says a commenter on one of @cookingwithhollyb’s martinis, which Holly affectionately calls “the dirtiest bevs known to man.”
To their credit, creators understand that their tastes are not for everyone.
“I can acknowledge this might look absolutely disgusting to some of you, but to me, she’s gorgeous,” Holly says in the same video.
TikToker @Wenyworld thinks some of these recipes might be better as full meals.
“Y’all do not want a drink, y’all want some lunch! You want a snack!” she says in her own video, under the text “the martinis must be stopped.”
So, if you adore anything pickled, briny or funky, now is your time to shine. Dirty martini pioneers are experimenting with all sorts of unconventional ingredients and pushing the cocktail to its absolute limits.
As for the rest of us? We’ll be sticking with the classics, thank you.
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