Ol’ Dirty Bastard Recipe

Make quick house olive brine (if you have prepped brine, skip)

In a small jar combine 1 cup of brine (use 1/2 cup water + 1 tsp kosher salt dissolved if you need to stretch) with 6 pitted green olives. Stir or shake until salt dissolves and olives are coated. Let rest at least 15 minutes (ideally several hours or overnight) so flavors meld. Reserve 1/2 cup brine for the cocktail and keep extra brined olives for garnish.

Prepare garnish

Thread one large green olive onto a cocktail pick. If using brined olives from above, let them sit on the pick to absorb brine for a minute before serving.

Chill glass

Place a coupe or chilled rocks glass in the freezer or fill with ice water while you mix the cocktail so it is well chilled.

Mix

Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add 2 oz Roku Japanese gin, 0.75 oz dry sake, 0.5 oz house olive brine, and 1 dash lemon bitters to the shaker.

Shake

Cap the shaker and shake vigorously for 12–15 seconds until the outside of the shaker is very cold and well diluted. The sake benefits from a brief, hard shake to integrate with the gin and brine.

Strain & serve

Discard ice or water from the chilled glass. Double-strain the cocktail (fine strainer optional) into the chilled coupe or rocks glass over a single large ice cube if you prefer it on the rocks, or neat in a chilled coupe.

Garnish & finish

Skewer the large green olive on the pick and rest over the rim (or drop into the drink). Express a very light lemon oil (optional) over the drink or add a quick twist, then serve immediately.