Mixers

Pickle Brine

Pickle brine is the salty, sour liquid dill pickles are packed in: water, vinegar, salt, dill and spices, and in most UK jars mustard seed, which makes mustard an allergen to check. Served cold as a chaser, its salt and acid cut the burn of a shot, which is the whole idea of the Pickleback: 25ml of Irish whiskey followed at once by 25ml of brine.

Quick Facts

Legal categoryFood

Flavour Strengthstrong

Our keeping timeAs long as the pickles, refrigerated.

Storage

In the fridge, in its own jar with the lid on.

Allergens

Contains: mustard. Most UK gherkin and dill pickle jars list mustard seed, and some add a sulphite preservative. Recipes vary: check the jar.

The ingredient

About Pickle Brine

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

SaltVinegarDill

Tasting Notes

Sharp salt and vinegar rounded by dill and garlic: the flavour of the jar, doing exactly one job supremely well.

What the pickles were packed in

Pickle brine is what the cucumbers sat in: water, vinegar and salt, flavoured with dill, garlic and spices. Most UK jars of gherkins and dill pickles also list mustard seed, so the brine carries mustard, an allergen UK labels have to name.

Sweet styles, such as sandwich and bread-and-butter pickles, add sugar. Their brine is sweet-sour where dill brine is salt-sour, and that difference decides whether it works as a chaser.

A cold chaser cuts the burn of a shot

In a Pickleback the brine follows 25ml of Irish whiskey straight away. The heat of a neat shot keeps rising for a moment after swallowing; something ice-cold, salty and sour lands on top of it, and the burn seems to vanish. Sugar does not do that, which is why sweet brine makes a muddled chaser.

Mental Floss, a secondary source, tells the story of Brooklyn's Bushwick Country Club in March 2006, where the first pairing was Old Crow bourbon and McClure’s pickle brine.

Dill brine is saltier and far less sweet

Brines a bar might use (UK labels, per 100g of pickles)

Dill or haimisha pickle

Salt: About 1 to 1.5g (Mrs Elswood Haimisha 1.5g)
Sugar: About 2g
Use: The Pickleback chaser

Sweet or sandwich pickle

Salt: About 0.4g (Mrs Elswood Sandwich)
Sugar: About 8g
Use: Not as a chaser

Olive

Salt: Very salty
Sugar: None
Use: A barspoon in a savoury stirred drink

Cocktail onion

Salt: About 0.6g (Tesco silverskin)
Sugar: Some
Use: A few ml in a stirred gin drink

Brine	Salt	Sugar	Use
Dill or haimisha pickle	About 1 to 1.5g (Mrs Elswood Haimisha 1.5g)	About 2g	The Pickleback chaser
Sweet or sandwich pickle	About 0.4g (Mrs Elswood Sandwich)	About 8g	Not as a chaser
Olive	Very salty	None	A barspoon in a savoury stirred drink
Cocktail onion	About 0.6g (Tesco silverskin)	Some	A few ml in a stirred gin drink

Keep it cold and pour it fresh

Keep the brine in its jar in the fridge, lid on, while the pickles last, and chill the shot glasses as well. Strain out seeds and dill before pouring, and pour each round fresh rather than leaving brine to warm in glasses on the bar.

Using it

Using Pickle Brine

Usage

Chilled and poured straight from the pickle jar into a shot glass, 25ml beside 25ml of Irish whiskey for a Pickleback. Whiskey first, brine straight after. We use it within the life of the jar, and leave sweet pickle brine in the kitchen.

Pro Tip

Strain jar brine through a tea strainer into the shot glass. Seeds and dill fronds are fine on a pickle and unwelcome in a mouthful of chaser.

Top Tips

Use dill pickle brine. The sugar in sweet pickle brine dulls the saltiness and sourness.
Chill the jar and the shot glasses; a warm chaser does less.
Read the jar for mustard seed if a guest has allergies.
Pour each round fresh from the jar rather than leaving brine standing in glasses.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is a Pickleback?

A shot of whiskey with a shot of cold pickle brine right behind it. Ours is 25ml of Irish whiskey and 25ml of dill pickle brine, poured into chilled shot glasses and drunk one after the other. The brine's salt and acid cut the burn of the whiskey, so the shot finishes clean.

What kind of pickle juice do you use for a Pickleback?

The liquid from dill pickles or gherkins, cold. The first Pickleback, in Brooklyn, used McClure's spicy dill brine. Avoid sweet and sandwich pickles: their sugar softens the very saltiness and sourness the chaser relies on. Strain out seeds and dill before pouring.

Why does pickle juice take away the burn of whiskey?

The heat of a neat shot keeps rising for a moment after it is down. A cold, salty, sour mouthful arrives while it is still rising and swamps the palate with stronger tastes, and the burn appears to stop. Cold matters: a warm chaser does noticeably less.

Does pickle brine contain allergens?

Often mustard. Most UK jars of gherkins and dill pickles list mustard seed, and UK labels have to name mustard wherever it is used. Recipes vary between brands, and the facts panel shows what to look for, so read the jar before offering brine to someone allergic.

How long does pickle brine keep?

Until the pickles run out, refrigerated, lid on. Once the pickles are gone the brine still keeps, being mostly vinegar and salt, but its dill and garlic fade. Throw it away if it turns cloudy where it was clear, grows a film or smells wrong.

Can you use pickle brine in a cocktail?

Yes, in small amounts in savoury drinks, much as olive brine is used in a stirred gin drink. A barspoon adds salt and acid at once. Strain it first and taste as you go: dill pickle brine is salty enough that more than a barspoon can take over a short drink.

Which whiskey goes in a Pickleback?

Most bars pour Irish whiskey, and ours uses one at 40% ABV. By Mental Floss’s account the first, in 2006, used Old Crow bourbon; any whiskey will do. A soft, smooth one shows the brine's effect most clearly.

Sources.

Correct as of 17 October 2026.

Mental Floss, “A brief history of the pickleback shot” (secondary source).

Make something

Made with Pickle Brine

Featured In These Cocktails

Pickleback

Often Used With

Whiskey (Irish)

Updated 17 October 2026

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