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Pickleback

Pickle Back

3.2 16 ratings

Ingredients

1 oz Irish whiskey
1 oz Pickle juice

How to make

Serve in a shot glass

Prepare

  1. 1 Select a SHOT GLASS.
  2. 2 Prepare garnish of 3 skewered green olives.

Method

  1. 3 POUR whiskey into one glass.
  2. 4 POUR pickle brine into other glass.

Garnish

  1. 5 Garnish with skewered olives.

18.2% alc./vol. · 0.7 standard drinks · 74 calories

History

While gherkin juice is enjoyed with fish and chips, drinking the brine is unusual. American customs, such as driving on the right and bowling underarm, are eccentric. The drinking of pickle brine is popular in New York City as one-half of a Pickleback.

This cocktail was created in 2006 at Brooklyn's Bushwick Country Club. Its origin is linked to a neighboring business, McClure's Pickles, which stored some of its products in the bar's basement. This situation reportedly inspired bartender Reggie Cunningham to create a drink featuring Old Crow Bourbon served with a shot of McClure's spicy pickle brine. The Ruotolo brothers, owners of the Manhattan bar Whiskey Town in the East Village, later discovered the drink and began serving it, though they opted for Irish whiskey instead of bourbon.