7 Great Cocktails Made with Olive Oil

Everyone will o-love these recipes where olive oil is fat washed into spirits, infused with herbs or dropped on the surface of the drink.
If you’ve ever tried cake or ice cream made with olive oil, you already know that the pantry staple’s applications go well beyond salads and sautés. Incorporating olive oil into cocktails lends them a silky, luscious mouthfeel and bright and peppery aroma and flavor.

“Olive oil is a great cocktail addition to smooth rough edges of a spirit while adding great texture,” says Jonathan Stanyard, cocktail consultant and founder of The Bitter Gringo, who recommends reaching for extra virgin and first-pressed bottles for the best results. He also suggests adding up to a bar spoon of EVOO for a twist on the Espresso Martini. (Try it!)

Since the Martini is often garnished with olives, riffing on it is an easy way to start experimenting with olive oil in drinks. Here are six recipes for Martini and Vesper variations and more, all with the slick addition of olive oil.

Bellemille Martini

Recipe courtesy of Alexa Dombkoski, Founder, Bellemille

“It might seem strange at first, but olive oil is actually a welcomed addition to your cocktail,” says Dombkoski, whose company creates a first cold-pressed extra virgin Tuscan olive oil with frantoio, leccino, and moraiolo olives that’s bright and intensely fruity, with subtle pepper notes and hints of almonds and artichokes. “It adds a velvety, silky mouthfeel and a weightiness to the Martini.” She recommends using a crisp and clean gin or vodka for this recipe to let the oil’s aromas shine through.

Bellemille Martini

1 ½ oz. Bellemille-washed rosemary vodka (see Note)

½ oz. dry vermouth

Dash orange bitters

Rosemary sprig, for garnish

Few drops of olive oil, for garnish

Add the first three ingredients to a mixing glass, add ice, and stir until chilled. Strain into a chilled Martini glass, garnish with the rosemary sprig, and use a dropper to add 2 or 3 drops of oil onto the surface of the drink.

For the Bellemille-washed rosemary vodka:

Combine a 750ml bottle of Finlandia Vodka with 4 oz. Bellemille Olive Oil and 2 large sprigs of rosemary in a large Mason jar. Shake vigorously to combine, and store in a cool, dark place for at least 24 hours. Transfer the jar to the freezer and freeze it overnight. Remove the solidified olive oil and rosemary, then strain the remaining liquid using a fine mesh strainer or coffee filter, repeating until no visible remnants remain

The Vespa

Recipe courtesy of Jackie Nevin, Mixologist, Art in the Age, Philadelphia, PA

This play on the Vespa is meant to evoke the feeling of riding a Vespa around a hilly seaside Italian village, Nevin says, with classic ingredients and some quintessential Italian ones. “A quinine-heavy tonic supplies the bitterness needed to balance out the Lillet and limoncello, lightens up the cocktail and makes it slightly spritzy, pushing it more towards that breezy seaside vibe I was going for.”

The Vespa photo credit Quaker City Mercantile

1 ½ oz. Boyd & Bly Potato Vodka (or another potato-based vodka)

½ oz. Hendrick’s Gin

½ oz. Lillet Blanc

¼ oz. limoncello (they use Liberty Belle)

½ oz. Top Note Tonic (or another high-quality quinine-forward tonic water)

5 drops olive oil

Yellow cherry tomato, for garnish

Flaky sea salt, for garnish

Add the first five ingredients to a mixing glass, add ice, and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and add 5 drops of olive oil on the surface of the drink. Garnish with half a yellow cherry tomato skewered and coated with flaky sea salt.

The Dirty Once

Recipe courtesy of Lazaro Jimenez, Bar Lead, Herb & Sea, Encinitas, CA

This interesting libation uses fat washed gin and a syrup made with vanilla cake crumbles. “The drink was inspired by an olive oil granita I had as an intermezzo at II Grano in Los Angeles that was the perfect balance of acidic, sweet, and rich,” Jimenez says. He likes the vibrancy that Chefs Life Olive Oil adds to the cocktail, and says when working with olive oil in drinks, acidity is your best friend to keep everything balanced.

Dirty Once photo credit Kimberly Motos

2 oz. olive oil-infused gin (see Note)

¾ oz. lemon juice

¾ oz. cake syrup (see Note)

3-4 drops olive oil, for garnish

Add the first three ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice, and shake until well-chilled. Fine strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with drops of olive oil.

For the olive oil-infused gin:

Combine 3 cups gin with ¾ cup olive oil and place in the freezer overnight. Remove the jar from the freezer and remove the solidified olive oil. Strain the remaining liquid using a fine mesh strainer or coffee filter, repeating until no visible remnants of the olive oil remain.

For the cake syrup:

Combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and ½ cup crumbled vanilla cake in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and immediately strain. Let cool, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Fritz Martini

Recipe courtesy of Cody Goldstein, CEO, Muddling Memories

Fritz Martini

“Olive oil is super trendy in the cocktail and culinary world and we love to hop on a trend, run with it, and make it approachable with our own twist,” Goldstein says. “Our Fritz Martini is arguably the most delicious Martini we think we’ve ever made!” The fresh riff on the 50/50 ratio is balanced with both gin and vodka and garnished with castelvetrano olives, which have a fatty and less briny profile and pair nicely with the oil.

1 ½ oz. London Dry Gin

1 ⅕ oz. vodka

1 ½ oz. dry vermouth

4 dashes orange bitters

5 drops olive oil (Goldstein likes RAO’s Homemade Limited Reserve Elite Olive Oil)

Castelvetrano olives and lemon twist, for garnish

Add the first four ingredients to a mixing glass, add ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain 3 oz. of the drink into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, and strain the remainder into a chilled Martini sidebar (small carafe) with the olives and lemon twist on the side. Place 5 drops of olive oil on the surface of the Nick and Nora glass.

Olive Oil Martini

Recipe courtesy of Erin Cacioppo, Assistant Director of Food & Beverage, JW Marriott, Nashville, TN

JW Marriott Nashville Olive Oil Martini

Fat Washing—mixing a fat with a spirit, letting it cool and separate, and straining out the solids-- leaves behind the notes of the fat and a richer texture, Cacioppo says. “A classic gin Martini can be elevated with subtle ‘dirty’ elements to bring forth a new depth of flavor, more curious mouthfeel, and layered textures that simply can’t be achieved by adding a splash of olive brine to a shaker.”

2 ½ oz. fat-washed gin (see Note)

½ oz. blanc vermouth

2 dashed olive bitters (The Bitter Truth or another brand)

Pinch of salt

Thyme sprig, for garnish

Add the first four ingredients except garnish to a mixing glass, add ice, and stir until chilled. Strain into a coupe or Martini glass, and garnish with the thyme sprig.

For the fat-washed gin:

Pour a 750 ml bottle of your favorite gin into a large container, add 4 oz. olive oil, and shake vigorously. Let sit for a few hours, shaking every now and then. Store overnight in the refrigerator, then strain out the olive oil through a coffee filter.

Verno Tempore

Recipe courtesy of Jonathan Stanyard, Founder, The Bitter Gringo

Verno Tempore photo credit Melissa Sampedro

This cocktail, whose name is Latin for “springtime”, is next level, technique-wise, but the effort results in a fresh, herbal drink with a rich mouthfeel. Stanyard was inspired after spending time among all the peas, lettuce, herbs, and other green things growing in his garden. “I knew this cocktail would be a vegetal palate party—think a garden party dancing merrily across the taste buds,” he says. “It is bright, complex, layered, and encompasses every bit of my mood this season.”

2 oz. olive oil-washed gin (see Note)

1 oz. fennel- and citrus-infused blanco vermouth (see Note)

4 dashes green peppercorn and matcha tincture (see Note)

Dash Scrappy’s Celery Bitters

Parsley-fennel oil (see Note), lemon peel and fennel frond, for garnish

Add the first four ingredients to a mixing glass, add ice, and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with the lemon oil expressed from the peel, a few drops of the herb oil, and a fresh fennel frond

For the olive oil-washed gin:

Add 2 oz. extra virgin olive and 375 ml of gin (Stanyard likes Temple Distilling Co-Authored Vol 2. Gin) to a sealed glass jar. Keep at room temperature for 48 hours, shaking every hour or so. Freeze the jar overnight, then puncture 2 holes through that later and pour out the infused gin. Fine strain to remove remaining solids.

For the fennel- and citrus-infused blanco vermouth:

Add ¼ cup of freshly chopped fennel fronds, zest of 1 lemon, zest of 1 lime, zest of half a grapefruit and 500 ml of Lustau Blanco Vermouth to an iSi charger. Add the top, charge twice, and let infuse for an hour. De-gas, strain the vermouth and keep in an airtight bottle in the refrigerator.

For the green peppercorn and matcha tincture:

Add 3 g of lightly crushed green peppercorns and 1 tsp. matcha powder to 150 ml of neutral grain spirit in a sealed glass jar. Shake well every so often, letting it infuse for 7 days. Strain and filter out the solids, and decant into a bitters bottle.

For the parsley-fennel oil:

Add ½ cup of olive oil, ¼ cup chopped parsley and ¼ cup chopped fennel fronds to a vacuum bag and seal. Add to a water bath (120 o F) and set a time for 5 hours. Place the bag in an ice bath to cool, strain, and bottle tightly. Store in the refrigerator for a longer shelf life.

Corto Cup

Corto cup and cocktail

A cocktail collaboration between California olive oil producer Corto and Camp, a craft cocktail company specializing in kits. The kit come with Lemongrass & Basil olive oil and a jar with all California grown botanicals including herbs and citrus.

3 oz strained vodka-infused Corto Cup

2 oz fresh lemon juice

Agrumato-Method Lemongrass & Basil Olive Oil

Fill the Camp Craft Cocktails Corto Cup with vodka and cap tightly. Shake thoroughly. Leave in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Add the infused vodka, lemon juice and ½ teaspoon of Lemongrass & Basil olive oil to an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 20 seconds.

Strain the mixture into two chilled glasses. Use a dropper or straw to place a few larger dots of Lemongrass & Basil Olive Oil on the surface of the cocktail.