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You may be well acquainted with martinis that are dry, dirty and perfect, but have you met a fat martini?  Let us introduce the Cold Press, a stand-up cocktail of olive oil-infused vodka, which recently debuted at the new Indaco restaurant in Germantown.

Unlike a dirty martini, which takes its flavor from the addition of olive brine, this marriage of vodka and vermouth absorbs a silkiness from the process of “fat-washing” the base spirit with a high-quality extra-virgin olive oil.  

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“Olive oil is fun for an Italian concept,” says Jordan Moton, senior beverage manager for Charleston, S.C.-based Indigo Road Hospitality Group, which owns Indaco, along with O-Ku and Oak Steakhouse. She also experiments with Negronis infused with margherita pizza–including tomatoes, basil and crust–and other martinis that substitute pepperoncini or pickle juices for olive brine.

Indaco’s Cold Press takes its cues from a Vesper, a martini that layers gin or vodka with Lillet and dry vermouth for notes of fruit and flora. The finished product looks simple enough, faintly gold-tinted with a green-glistening drop of basil oil suspended across the surface.

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But a Cold Press is anything but spontaneous, requiring an overnight soak in the freezer to infuse the liquor with silky olive oil. You can make a Cold Press at home, just be sure to plan ahead. Here's how Jordan creates Indaco’s Cold Press Martini. (Note: She recommends mixing as a batch):

  1. Start with vodka or a split combination of vodka and gin. Using a ratio of 4 ounces of the base spirit to 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, mix liquor and oil and place in the freezer overnight. When cold oil rises to the top and solidifies, scrape the fat cap off the liquid. Now you have fat-washed spirits.

  2. For every 2 ounces of oil-infused spirit, add ¼ ounce of Dolin Blanc white vermouth and ¼ ounce Tempus Fugit Kina L’aero D’or wine-based aperitif with notes of orange and spices. Shake or stir with ice and strain into a stemmed glass.

  3. Finish with a drop of basil-infused olive oil floated on the surface.

Or pull a seat up to the bar at Indaco in Germantown, the fifth location of the Italian-inspired nameplate, which debuted in Nashville in March.