Give Pickle Martinis A Hot Weather Upgrade By Making Booze Slushies

We're living in a golden age of pickled products. Fermented foods from around the world have gained in stature in recent years and even the humble jarred pickle has found opportunities to take its turn in the spotlight. It's achieved fame via viral TikTok recipes (like the ingeniously snacky combo of pickles, Hot Cheetos, and lime juice) as well as the dawning realization that the liquid left behind in a jar of kosher dills isn't something you should pour down the drain — pickle brine is liquid flavor that can be repurposed in a myriad of ways, from marinating cheese cubes to making salad dressings. It also has a place at the home bar: You can sub pickle juice for olive brine in a dirty martini. Or it can be used as a chaser to a shot of liquor, a la the pickleback.

That got us thinking: Could pickle juice intersect with another timely trend — the rise of homemade frosé and other frozen adult bevs? We introduce to you the frozen pickle martini slushie, an ultra-refreshing boozy blended drink with a salty kick you can make at home with little more than pickle brine, gin (or vodka), some ice, and a blender.

Cocktails are all about ratios, and frozen drinks are no different — so here's a little easy math to know going in. Figure your pickle martini as three parts gin or vodka to one part pickle juice. Add a splash of dry vermouth or not. When making frozen cocktails, it's a good idea to have all ingredients as cold as possible, especially if your kitchen runs a little warm, to minimize melting when you blend. So mix the liquor and the pickle juice and stash it in the freezer beforehand. Because of the high alcohol content, the liquid won't freeze solid; it'll just be nicely chilly when you're ready to add the ice.

Here's another common ratio for frozen blended drinks: two parts ice to one part other ingredients. To avoid overtaxing your blender, use crushed ice rather than cubed; if all you've got is the latter, toss some cubes into a plastic zipper bag or between two kitchen towels and beat them with a rolling pin or other heavy object to break them up. Put the chilled liquids into the blender first, then put in less ice than you might ultimately need, adding and tasting as you go — while it's always possible to add ice, it's never possible to remove it if you find that you've watered down your drink too much. Pour the blended drink into a martini glass and garnish with — what else? A sliced pickle.

Say you want something a little harder than the boozy slushie. By "harder," we're not talking about alcohol by volume here; we're talking about something that's frozen solid — a pickle martini popsicle. Sans alcohol, the pickle popsicle is something that's already earned fans, and the most basic version couldn't be easier to prepare: Pour pickle juice into a popsicle mold and freeze it. Since high-ABV products like gin don't freeze, that means something lighter, booze-wise. If you're trying to freeze a liquid that contains hard liquor, you're going to want to stick to a ratio of five to one: that is, five parts nonalcoholic liquid for one part booze. 

For your pickle martini pop, mix your concoction — five parts brine, one part gin or vodka, a splash of vermouth if you want it — and pour it into your molds. Freeze until solid, and there you have it: the perfect thirst-quencher on a sultry summer's day. And, come to think of it, a really nice pairing with the boozy beer popsicle.