Make your own pickle vodka for a twist on the Martini

This cocktail was created by Beth Bond, general manager at Michelin-starred the Cottage in the Wood near Keswick in the Lake District.

The pickle vodka is left to infuse for at least 24 hours before creating the cocktail, to allow the full tang of the gherkins to come through in this refreshing drink. The sour vodka teamed with herby dill oil gives an extra zip to a traditional Martini.

Ingredients

• 10ml dry vermouth
• 50ml pickle vodka (see below)
• 5ml olive brine
• 3 drops dill or other herb oil (see below)
• Gordal olive
• Cornichon

Method

Pop a martini glass in the freezer.

Fill a stirring glass halfway with ice. Pour over the vermouth and stir for two minutes, until the ice starts to melt.

Add some fresh ice and pour in the pickle vodka. Stir for five minutes, until the drink doubles in size.

Add the olive brine and stir through again.

Strain through a Hawthorn strainer into your frozen glass and garnish with the dill oil, Gordal olive and cornichon.

To make the pickle vodka

• 540ml jar of gherkins
• 500ml vodka

Drain the brine from the jar of gherkins, leaving a few millimetres in the bottom of the jar.

Fill the pickle jar with the vodka. Seal the jar and leave it in a warm place for 24 hours.

The next day, check the vodka. If it tastes ‘pickly’ enough, strain the vodka from the jar into a new, sterilised glass bottle. If not, leave it for another 24 hours.

To make the dill oil

• Bunch of dill
• 200ml olive oil

Blend the oil and dill together for a few seconds and then pass through a muslin. Pour into a clean bottle and store in the fridge.