05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Why pickle juice is a trending cocktail ingredient, from margaritas to martinis
If you have a cocktail scene in your neck of the woods, you might have noticed the words 'pickle juice' appearing more often on drink menus.
Advertisement
Pickles and pickle brine have been ingredients that mixologists – and chefs – have played with for a long time, but they are finally getting a star turn in drinks menus around the world.
Pickle juice is salty, tangy, acidic and sometimes a little spicy. It adds zing to all kinds of cocktails.
'Pickles are a great gateway into savoury cocktails,' says Camille Goldstein, managing partner of Muddling Memories, a hospitality company based in Brooklyn, in New York, that promotes drinks as an experience.
'The sweet-salty brine of a pickle really creates an interesting depth of flavour for your margarita, martini or even a highball,' she says.
A pickleback is basically a shot of whiskey with a pickle brine chaser. Photo: Shutterstock
A drink called the pickleback has been popular for years. Said to have originated at a Brooklyn bar called Bushwick Country Club, it consists of a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle brine. Word spread.