I'd never had a "dirty" martini until this past week and really enjoyed it..so much so, I went looking for this recipe on-line and this is great! To the "seasoned bartender" who gave the advice about coating the glass with the vermouth and discarding excess -- thank you!! While the vermouth does lend a definite layer of flavour,I have had other martinis where the vermouth was just too overpowering (and am actually never sure what a "dash" constitutes in ANY recipe!) Wonderful tip! As for the olive brine debate, I think if you use the brine from olives you enjoy for yourself and are pleased to set out for company on a tray -- that's perfectly fine -- it's all about personal tastebuds, right? The described portion was a bit much for me so I halved it -- but this will definitely become a regular before-Sunday-night-dinner-drink (as I relax in-between cooking and serving Sunday night dinner! LOL)

Reviewed On: Mar. 1, 2009