How do I easily keep olive juice out of my Mexican Martini?

September 30, 2009 4:30 PM

What is the shorthand to order a Mexican Martini without olive juice at a bar that inexplicably decided it was a good idea to add it to every Mexican Martini they make?

So, I'm in Austin, I like drinking Mexican Martini's. As far as I'm concerned, this drink should just be a Margarita up with an olive. I do not believe turning it into a Margarita into a Martini automatically implies that you want a *gag* Dirty Margarita. However, many of the more "trendy" places here in Austin add olive juice to every one they make unless you tell them not to.

So, what's the drink ordering shorthand for "no olive juice". Dirty means to add a small amount to a martini obviously, but I've never heard anyone order a martini "clean" before. Do people actually say that? If not, is there anything I can say other than "Mexican Martini, and please don't add any damned olive juice to it and ruin the drink" every time I order? :)

posted by Swifty to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Hm, on this one I'd err on the side of clarity at the cost of awesome shorthand. Getting one's drink befouled with olive juice is nothing to play around with!
posted by Neofelis at 4:38 PM on September 30, 2009

"With an olive on the side"?
posted by ambilevous at 4:42 PM on September 30, 2009

I've heard people order martinis clean before.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 4:44 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

When I lived in Austin, this was referred to as a Texas martini, and it didn't have any olive juice. Maybe these bars think that the Mexican martini is the dirty version of a Texas martini? That seems a little bit racist.
posted by grouse at 5:04 PM on September 30, 2009

If what you want is a Margarita up with an olive, order a Margarita up with an olive.
posted by decathecting at 5:16 PM on September 30, 2009 [2 favorites]

I never noticed the taste of the olive juice, and I hate olives. Are you talking like Trudy's/Chuy's/Hula Hut-type places or trendier/upscale/hipper places?
I would either ask for "Mexican martini, no olive juice," or "margarita up with an olive." Since mexmarts are kind of made-up as far as drinks go, you may confuse a bartender with some sort of specific name for what you're looking for that they don't use at that bar.
posted by ishotjr at 5:23 PM on September 30, 2009

Also, I've never heard of a Texas martini before, but maybe that's a bar-specific thing.
posted by ishotjr at 5:24 PM on September 30, 2009

Call the bar in advance!
posted by musofire at 6:06 PM on September 30, 2009

And keep it clean?
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 6:13 PM on September 30, 2009

Let's consult the Google.

Result as of this post:
4 margaritas w/ olives + juice
3 margaritas w/ olives (one of which has a series of comments denouncing the lack of olive juice)
1 martini made with tequila
1 Mexican martini mix company
1 yelp search.

Data says that dirty may be the new default. I guess you should probably specify "no olive juice".
posted by zamboni at 6:40 PM on September 30, 2009

(whoops, on re-reading, you're not actually asking "mexican margarita != dirty margarita, amirite?". My bad.)

"Margarita, olives on the side" is probably your best bet. That, or become a regular somewhere.
posted by zamboni at 6:42 PM on September 30, 2009

There is no canonical "Mexican Margarita," so some places are going to do it with just olives and some places are going to do it with olives + olive juice.

As others have said, ask for a margarita with an olive. That way there can be no possible confusion. The people who are doing it with the olive juice aren't doing it "wrong" because there is no generally accepted definition of something I think is an outrageous insult to the proud name of the martini, but that's not what we're talking about here this fairly new drink.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:05 PM on September 30, 2009 [3 favorites]

Is this at Trudy's? I would suggest going some place where the bartenders aren't dicks so you can just ask for "no olive juice, please". Or, ask the bartender. "I like Mexican Martinis, but I don't like Olive Juice in them. Is there some bartender lingo I should use?" It might be different from bar to bart, tender to tender.
posted by CharlesV42 at 8:40 PM on September 30, 2009

Seconding "Margarita up with an olive". Done and done. Better to add ingredients than try to remove them, when they're as unwieldy as "hold the olive juice BUT NOT THE OLIVES!"
posted by disillusioned at 9:11 PM on September 30, 2009

Also, I've never heard of a Texas martini before, but maybe that's a bar-specific thing.

I swear that's what it was called at Trudy's in 2003.
posted by grouse at 11:29 PM on September 30, 2009