Pickleback
A shot of whiskey chased by a shot of pickle brine. The 2006 Brooklyn invention that makes cheap whiskey taste better and expensive whiskey taste odd — and works every time.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Chill two shot glasses.
Pour the whiskey into one and the pickle brine into the other.
Drink the whiskey in one go.
Follow it immediately with the brine.
A thoughtful finish
- The brine matters more than the whiskey. A good dill pickle brine with garlic and real vinegar, strained of seeds, is the recipe; the liquid from sweet bread-and-butter pickles is not.
- Cold brine. Warm pickle juice is a punishment.
- Irish whiskey is the original and the smoothest; bourbon is sweeter against the salt; a smoky mezcal pickleback is the best variation.
Common mistakes
- Mixing the two in one glass. It is a shot and a chaser; the order is the point.
- Sweet pickle brine.
- A whiskey you would miss. The brine erases the whiskey's finish entirely, which is the trick and the reason to use the house pour.
A few good questions.
What is a Pickleback?
A shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle brine. The brine cancels the whiskey's burn and leaves a salty, sour, dill finish.
Why does it work?
Salt and acid reset the palate and the vinegar's sharpness overwhelms the alcohol's heat. There is some science and a lot of experience behind it.
Which whiskey?
Jameson was the original and Irish whiskey remains the standard. Bourbon, rye, Scotch and mezcal all have their followers.
Is it a hangover cure?
Pickle brine is electrolytes and salt, so the chaser helps slightly with the whiskey it chases. It is not medicine.
Variations
- Green Tea Shot — Irish whiskey, peach schnapps and sour.
- Kamikaze Shot — Vodka, lime and orange liqueur.
- Tequila Shot — Tequila with salt and lime.
- Dirty Martini — The cocktail that brine built.
Where it comes from
2006 · Brooklyn, New York · Reggie Cunningham · Bushwick Country Club
Reggie Cunningham, bartending at the Bushwick Country Club in Williamsburg in 2006, was asked by a regular for a shot of Jameson with a chaser of the brine from the bar’s McClure’s pickles, tried it himself, and put it on the menu. The idea — brine neutralises the whiskey’s burn and leaves a salty, dill, vinegar finish — spread through Brooklyn bars within the year and across the country within five, and the Pickleback is now a bar standard with a vocabulary: a whiskey pickleback, a mezcal pickleback, a ‘pickle-tini’. It is a chaser, not a cocktail, and it is strangely excellent.
Sources
- The New York Times, 'The Pickleback', 2010 (article)
- Robert Simonson, A Proper Drink, 2016 (book)
- Bushwick Country Club, house history, 2006 (archive)
Strength. About 1.13 US standard drinks at an estimated 19.6% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
A keeper?
Save this drink for your next cocktail hour.
Saved in this browser.The next great drink
might already be on your shelf.
Choose your bottles and mixers. Discover what you can make.
Your next sip.
More Bourbon drinks ↗
Boulevardier
A Negroni built on bourbon instead of gin. Warmer, rounder, and the better choice when it is cold out.
Brown Derby
Bourbon, grapefruit and honey, shaken. A 1930s Hollywood sour that is one of the best three-ingredient drinks there is.
Gold Rush
Bourbon, honey and lemon. Three ingredients, no bitters, no garnish — a Whiskey Sour with the sugar swapped for honey and nothing…