The Best Cocktail To Make With Leftover Pickle Juice

Pickle juice is the secret culinary weapon stored in your refrigerator. The briny, sour liquid is perfect for brining chicken and making pasta salad's flavors pop. But you might want to set some of that tangy pickle juice aside for mixing into your favorite drink. Of course, there is one cocktail that is the absolute perfect fit for an infusion of pickle juice, at least, according to Angelo Sosa, the executive chef of Kembara and Tía Carmen in Phoenix, Arizona, and Carmocha and Tía Carmen in Indian Wells, California. The chef gave Chowhound some exclusive food and drink tips, including some juicy advice on how to best repurpose any leftover pickle juice for amazing cocktails. 

According to Sosa, the best cocktail for leftover pickle juice is, bar none, a bloody mary. "Even though I don't drink," Sosa says, "the best combination I would recommend is with a bloody mary, which will give you a little pep in your step!" It's easy to see why Sosa would choose the classic bloody mary as the ideal vehicle for pickle juice. The cocktail, at the most basic level, consists of vodka (or gin or tequila), tomato juice, hot sauce, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. It is a rich and savory drink that is often customized with pickled veggies and similar umami additions such as olive brine, so adding pickle juice is practically a no-brainer. 

Pickles are a common choice for garnishing a bloody mary, so pouring some pickle brine into your glass just makes sense. But why, exactly, does pickle juice work so well in the staple cocktail? Essentially, pickle juice contains all of the flavor notes that make a bloody mary so tasty. The brine is tangy, sour, and salty, just like the beverage itself. Adding it to a bloody mary helps to marry all of the ingredients together and amp them up to their full potential. 

Now, if plain ol' pickles (dill or otherwise) aren't your thing, you can always add the juice from other pickled vegetables into the cocktail. Pickled jalapeños, for example, can add an extra spicy kick to your drink. And if you're in an even funkier mood, you can use kimchi or sauerkraut to satisfy your briny cravings. Really, when it comes to making a bloody mary, the world is your oyster (note that bloody marys pair very well with oysters). And, of course, if the tomato juice-based cocktail isn't your thing, you can always make a dirty martini with pickle brine instead.