The Dirty Martini Has Changed - and We're Teaching Both Versions at Our Gold Coast Cocktail Class This World Martini Day
The dirty martini is everywhere right now. If you've been to a cocktail bar in the last couple of years, you've seen it on the menu — or ordered one yourself. But the drink is also over a hundred years old, and the version everyone's ordering now looks almost nothing like the original.
At Six-Tricks Distilling Co. on the Gold Coast, we think that gap is interesting. Interesting enough to build a cocktail class around it.
On Saturday 20 June — World Martini Day — we're running one session of that class: The Dirty Martini, Then and Now. Two martinis. A hundred years apart. You make both.
The Original Dirty Martini
The dirty martini dates to the early twentieth century. It evolved from the classic martini — olive brine crept in, initially by accident, then by design. By the time vodka replaced gin as the dominant martini spirit, the dirty martini had a formula that barely changed for decades: spirit, dry vermouth, olive brine. Cold, salty, direct.
That's what we're making first. Vodka, brine, vermouth. Three ingredients. Nothing complicated, nothing hidden. The drink that started it all, made exactly as it was.
How the Modern Dirty Martini Evolved
What happened next is more recent. In the last few years, bartenders started pulling the dirty martini apart and rebuilding it from the ground up — applying the same precision to a classic cocktail that chefs have been applying to food for decades.
The new version is savoury, textured, and layered in a way the original isn't. Olive oil washing became a technique for smoothing and enriching the vodka. Tomato water — a clear liquid extracted from ripe tomatoes — replaced or supplemented the brine, adding depth without the salt hit. Tinctures built from pink peppercorn and MSG pushed the umami quality of the drink further. Basil oil brought a herbal finish the original never had.
The result is a drink that tastes like a dirty martini the way a really considered one should — complex, interesting, and built for people who pay attention to what's in their glass.
What We're Making on World Martini Day
Our Gold Coast cocktail class on 20 June is built around this arc. You'll start the afternoon on the distillery floor — arrival drink in hand, short tour of our production space — before settling in for the class itself.
We pre-make the components for the modern build ahead of time: olive oil-washed vodka, fresh tomato water, the pink peppercorn and MSG tincture, the basil oil. In the class we walk you through each one before you use it. You'll understand what each element contributes and how it changes the final drink.
Then you make both. The OG first, the rebuild second. Side by side, you taste a hundred years of the dirty martini's evolution in two glasses.
After the class, shared plates come out and the bar is open. Most people stay for the afternoon — which is exactly what a Saturday at Mermaid Beach is for.
What You'll Learn in the Class
This isn't a class where you watch someone make drinks and taste them at the end. You'll come away knowing how to fat-wash a spirit and what it does to texture and flavour. How tomato water is made, and why it adds depth to a savoury cocktail without the salt. How to build a tincture and what MSG genuinely contributes. And how to look at a classic drink, understand its structure, and know where you'd take it.
The techniques you learn here apply beyond the dirty martini. They're the same ones bartenders are using across the current generation of serious cocktail bars.
Book Your Spot
One session only. Saturday 20 June, 1pm. $79 per person, which includes the distillery tour, arrival drink, and the two-cocktail masterclass.
Seats are limited.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a dirty martini?
- A martini made with a measure of olive brine alongside the spirit and dry vermouth, which gives it a savoury, salty edge. The classic build is three ingredients; modern versions go a lot further.
What's the difference between a classic and a modern dirty martini?
- The classic is spirit, dry vermouth and olive brine — cold and direct. The modern version rebuilds it with techniques like olive oil-washed vodka, tomato water and tinctures for more depth and texture without leaning on salt. In this class you make both and taste them side by side.
Do I need cocktail-making experience?
- No. The class is built for anyone — we walk you through every component and technique before you use it. You'll leave knowing how to do it again at home.
What's included, and how much is it?
- $79 per person, including a short distillery tour, an arrival drink, the two-cocktail class.
When and where is it?
- Saturday 20 June at 1pm, at Six-Tricks Distilling Co., Mermaid Beach, Gold Coast. We're open Thursday to Sunday.
You have to know your craft to bend the rules. This is both, in two glasses.
