The olives that go in Philly’s most polished martinis

I’ve started to pay attention to olive varieties of the olive oil I’m consuming — arbequina and koroneiki are starting to be listed on menus, for instance, but I rarely see olive varieties notated on martini menus at bars, though olives seem to vary widely from bar to bar. So what olives are best for martinis?

The olives that are pressed into oil and the ones intended to be eaten, known as table olives — which are the ones that go in martinis — are different in the same way that chardonnay or pinot noir grapes are not quite as nice to munch on as Red Globe or Cotton Candy grapes.

The table olive umbrella is vast. There are a lot of options — two hundred or so varieties are grown in Spain alone — and their flavor profiles and aromas vary widely, from mild, sweet, and fruity (gordals, aka Spanish Queens) to bitter, salty, and even outright funky (kalamatas). Even if you take two of the same olive, depending on when they are plucked and how they are cured, they could have totally different tastes and textures.

The question of which kind of olive is best for your martini also depends on your martini, which also has a vast umbrella, even when you exclude all the not-a-true-martini ‘tinis, such as the espresso martini. At minimum, a martini can be made with gin or vodka; be dry (less vermouth), wet (more vermouth), or 50/50; come with a twist or an olive; and be dirty (with olive brine) or extra dirty (even more olive brine).

We’ll walk through the most popular varieties of martini olives, from mild and least oily to most intensely flavored and oiliest, and the kinds of martinis they work best in, as recommended by Philly bartenders. “If there’s ever been a time for a bar to do an olive-driven martini menu, it’s now,” said Resa Mueller, the beverage director at Oyster House.

Gordal or Spanish Queen

Gordals [meaning “fat ones” in Spanish] and Spanish Queen are two interchangeable names for the same variety of plump, green olive with a low oil content — you’ll see jars labeled with one name or the other depending on the brand. They’re very common on shelves at fancy grocery stores. I use gordals from the brand Losada for the dry martinis I make at home because they’re so meaty that they’re like a snack with my drink.

So whenever I encounter Losada gordals in the wild, I am always bowled over with joy. Jillian Moore uses them for dirty martinis at My Loup. “We only add one to start a martini but it’s free olive refills for those who love the briny babies,” she said. “The brine is perfect and they’re great for stuffing with bleu cheese.”

The secret to the brine, which has more savory depth than straight salinity, is the addition of MSG, which also makes for a remarkably juicy, sweet olive. “The most important thing in a dirty martini is getting the salt balance right,” said Oyster House’s Mueller. “Salt helps to balance out the high alcohol content in a martini, the same way temperature and dilution do.”

Brine adds salt to both olives and martinis, preserving the former, and rounding out the latter. Mark Murphy, the director of bar operations for Starr Restaurants, noted that while Losada gordals are delicious, they don’t necessarily fit the bill of what people generally expect in a dirty martini, where smaller, more intensely flavored olives are common. He confessed that one of his tricks is to use Roland Foods’ olive juice (composed of water, olive solids, salt, and lactic acid) with a more neutral olive. “Sometimes you just need an olive to taste exactly how you expect an olive to taste,” he said. And while Losada’s gordals can taste like mild, savory plums, “Da Costa’s Spanish Queens are superior in that regard.”

Spanish Queens are also used at the Oyster House, where “people want something familiar and classic,” said Mueller, who also adds a different brine to the mix (from the brand Filthy). “When you get the fancy olives, you still need a brine that has the salinity that’s going to cut through the alcohol and fattiness of the olive, and bring it all together,” she said. Besides, there simply isn’t enough brine in a jar of olives; “you’ll go through brine much faster than olives,” she added.

You want Losada’s gordals if you’re seeking an umami punch in your martini, but with a mild, fruity olive. They are not cheap, at around $8-10 for a 12 oz. jar, which I usually pick up at Di Bruno’s. If you want more salt, gordals from another brand, or Spanish Queens, are the way to go. Quincy’s Spanish Queen olives are delicious and designed specifically for dirty martini making, as the jar purports to include the perfect ratio of brine to olive — that is, a lot more brine.

Castelvetrano

These green, Sicilian olives are mild, smaller than gordals, but still meaty, with a crisp bite and more concentrated sweetness. In researching the best martinis in Philly for a forthcoming story, I found that the majority of bars used Castelvetrano olives for their martinis because they don’t compete with the nuanced botanicals in gin or the milder, clean flavors in vodka. “They’re elevated and silky,” Mueller said.

At the Lover’s Bar, if you order a dirty martini, it’ll have Castelvetrano olives. But bartender Paul McDonald would rather you didn’t — like at all. “I like to eat olives. But I hate dirty martinis,” he said. “We are not a dirty martini bar and I can’t have people coming in ordering dirty martinis.”

The olive of choice for a dirty martini at Rittenhouse’s Little Water is also a Castelvetrano, “preferably Partanna brand” because “they provide brininess without overpowering the spirit used,” said Maggie Cook, the restaurant’s general manager and wine director. Partanna olives can be found at Claudio’s Specialty Foods in the Italian Market and Di Bruno’s, for about $7 per 12-ounce jar.

Manzanilla

These are dual-purpose olives, and are used for both olive oil and table olives (and therefore martinis). They’re on the saltier, slightly more bitter side, and can be green or black (the black ones are those canned California olives). They’re often found stuffed with a speck of a sweet, mild pimento pepper. “For my tried and true go-to dirty martini, I’m reaching for those classic Spanish Queen or manzanilla old school bar olives that come in gigantic jars,” said Rachel Brown, the bartender at 48 Record Bar. “Apart from the sensory nostalgia that comes from that high salinity, soft pimento-filled dirty manzanilla martini, that craftsmanship really gets the chance to shine when you’re using simple ingredients.”

Nicoise

Nicoise olives are small and dark brown or black. They taste bitter, with a raisin-like fruitiness, and are a little nutty. They’re the tiny, flavor-packed, polar opposites of gordals. They’re grown near — you guessed it, Nice, France, and share their name with the city’s famous salad, though the olives themselves also grace stews, soups, and tapenades. At Parc, you can get both a Nicoise salad and a Nicoise martini. There isn’t another martini like it in Philly — it’s pink hued from the Nicoise olive brine — and it’s one of my favorites. It somehow doesn’t taste terribly dirty, despite droplets of olive oil floating upon its surface. They’re commonly found at grocery stores like Whole Foods. If you can’t find them, cuquillo olives are very similar (but grown in Spain) and Losada also produces them.

Stuffed

For the funkiest possible martini olive, some intervention is required. “As an avid dirty martini drinker and maker, there’s something to be said for a unique stuffed olive,” said 48 Record Bar’s Brown. “Adding a blue cheese, jalapeño, pimento cheese, or even caviar touch to a dirty martini is a fun way to explore all the ways you can elevate your martini and surprise your palate.”

“I love offering regular and bleu cheese olives because bleu cheese lovers get so excited when they realize that we have them,” said My Loup’s Moore, who doesn’t believe that the stuffing of the olive may clash with any component of a martini, “as long as the guest gets what they want. I mean, Italians serve aperol spritzes with olives sometimes, which can seem counter to the flavor profile. I think it works incredibly well to have a little savory counter to the sweet.”

At the end of the day, the martini is one of the ultimate individualized drinks, and you should make it the way you want it. “I find that there’s always so many exceptions to martini ‘rules’ that the only rule should be that the guest is happy when they have their drink,” Moore said.

Have a question about what goes on behind the line in restaurant kitchens? Or how to handle food like a chef? Or where your food comes from? Hands, Please is a new advice column in which Inquirer food writer Kiki Aranita puts her years of working as a chef to use answering your questions about the kitchen — in restaurants or in your own home.

Send questions to [email protected] for a chance to have it answered in this column. (FYI: By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.)

Have a question about what goes on behind the line in restaurant kitchens? Or how to handle food like a chef? Or where your food comes from? Hands, Please is a new advice column in which Inquirer food writer Kiki Aranita puts her years of working as a chef to use answering your questions about the kitchen — in restaurants or in your own home.

Send questions to [email protected] for a chance to have it answered in this column. (FYI: By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.)