What Kate Hudson Uses To Give Her Martinis A Spicy Kick

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We love a good spicy margarita, but how about a spicy martini? A hot kick can go nicely with a dirty martini's salty olive brine, but you probably won't be using Tajin like you would for margaritas. Kate Hudson has an interesting way to make a dirty martini spicy — she uses olive oil.

In the Table Manners podcast, the actress and businesswoman explains that she enjoys drinking a dirty martini from a glass that has been washed with spicy olive oil. To be clear, Hudson isn't using olive oil infused with chile or garlic, but rather an olive oil with spicy flavor notes. Young, extra virgin olive oil has a natural spiciness due to a polyphenol (a type of antioxidant found in plants) called oleocanthal. Hudson specifically mentions that she uses a young olive oil from Peru, but doesn't name the brand.

If you want a new martini recipe, consider following Hudson's interesting technique. Instead of adding a few drops directly to the cocktail and shaking it, she "washes" the glass with it. This involves adding a small amount to the glass she'll be drinking out of, rolling it around to coat the inside, and then draining out the excess. Hudson doesn't start with a cold glass (this would likely make it difficult to roll the oil around); she keeps her vodka nice and cold in the freezer. If you were wondering how the actress likes her martini, she takes it bone dry, with no vermouth.

If you can't get your hands on the young Peruvian olive oil that Hudson uses for spicy martinis, look for a bottle labeled as cold pressed. This means that the oil hasn't been heated, and therefore preserves all the unique, pungent flavors, like spiciness. Early harvest, extra virgin olive oils typically have more intense flavor profiles, and oil made from Blanqueta and Picual olives tends to have more spicy notes. If you don't know how to identify the best olive oil at the grocery store, seek out cold pressed, single-origin varieties bottled in dark-colored glass.

Remember, you're not dousing the martini glass — a few drops should be sufficient for spreading the olive oil's flavor around the inside. You want to taste its spicy, vegetal notes, but as Hudson warns, you definitely don't want an oily cocktail.

For a more robust olive oil flavor, consider doing a fat wash for the vodka. Fat-washing is a process that involves mixing a spirit and fat together and letting it infuse for hours. The fat is then strained out multiple times, resulting in a smooth spirit that maintains the new flavor. Aside from olive oil, fat-washing can also be done with butter, bacon grease, or peanut butter. It is a great technique to maintain the flavor of olive oil, but with little to no oil in the martini. As we observed when Starbucks added olive oil to coffee, a floating layer on top can be unappealing.