In 2026, it’s hard to think of a food that hasn’t been Dirty Martini-ified. The rise of the savory drinks trend over the past few years brought variations spiked with pickle brine, sungold tomatoes, and MSG, and flavors inspired by sour cream and onion chips, Greek salad, and brioche.
At Titán, the new bar and restaurant in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood, the tart, acidic flavors of escabeche are given the Martini treatment in the Dirty Root. But in making the drink, co-owner Ivy Mix and head bartender Sergio Sarmiento weren’t trying to follow the all-things food fad. Instead, they were looking to capture the signature briny flavors of a classic Dirty Martini while paying homage to the flavors of northern Mexico.
Titán is a collaboration between Mix and co-owner chef Alan Delgado. Both established themselves as masterminds of Brooklyn’s food and beverage scene in their own rights — Mix at bars like the beloved (and now-closed) Leyenda and Whoopsie Daisy and Delgado at Fort Greene’s Los Burritos Juárez, known for its hand-rolled flour tortillas and long lines.
Mix likes to think of a cocktail menu like a vinyl album: The whole should be better than the sum of its parts. Where the songs together to form a cohesive story in an old-school LP, the various drinks on a single cocktail menu should sing in harmony.
“When I make a menu, I have a spreadsheet of what kind of flavors we’re using, what kind of spirits we’re using, so I can see that I’m kind of covering the entire drink spectrum,” she says.
The Dirty Root was Titán’s answer to the Dirty Martini. While diners can order the classics, Mix likes to have her own versions of popular cocktails at the ready to point guests toward something new and unique.
“There are certain boxes that I want to check, so when people come in and ask for, for example, an Espresso Martini, we can say, ‘Do you want to try ours?’” she says. “The Dirty Root was the Dirty Martini box that we wanted to check.”
Though the Dirty Root resembles a Dirty Martini in its look and briny flavor, the ingredients are a far cry from the drink’s vodka-and-olive-brine roots. Bacanora — an agave-based liquor from northern Mexico’s Sonora region — and blanco tequila act as the base of the cocktail, with dry vermouth, carrot eau de vie, and carrot liqueur playing supporting roles. Rather than relying on the classic olives for the savory punch, Mix and Sarmiento looked to escabache, a piquant and spicy ensemble of pickled vegetables, usually including peppers, carrots, and onions, that’s a staple in many Mexican households.
“In pretty much all of the houses in Mexico, they have homemade chiles and vegetables in vinegar,” he says. “If you only have tortillas and beans, you can make tacos by adding the escabeche.”
Once the two brainstormed their vision for a Dirty Martini riff, Sarmiento began experimenting with making a carrot vinegar at home. While the root vegetables’ juice brings a burst of flavor on their own, Sarmiento needed to find a mixture that would complement the cocktail’s combination of liquors. After a series of trial-and-error, he landed on a blend of carrot juice, vinegar, sugar, and salt, with touches of turmeric and ginger.
“Then we put it all together, and you have this earthy, savory, northern Mexico-style Martini,” Mix says.
The striking drink presents in the glass with a bright orange hue and is served with a sidecar boasting a trio of garnishes: a lemon twist, a pickled carrot spear, and a cocktail onion. Mix shares that its appealing presentation spurs an onslaught of orders when it makes its way across the room, suggesting that it has somewhat of a “fajita effect” with customers.
“People definitely do that to this drink because the glass is sexy, it comes with a little sidecar, and the color is just really kind of light and beautiful,” she says.
The Dirty Root’s eye-catching appearance and complex flavor profile has propelled it to become one of Titán’s most popular orders. And consumers’ recent infatuation with Martinis — especially food-inspired ones — doesn’t hurt. But in conceptualizing the cocktail, Mix and Sarmiento never sought out to meet some kind of trend.
“There’s this fad going on right now, which is fine, where everything tastes like food,” Mix says. “Taking a food element was not the point. The inspiration for this drink is all of the flavors of the north of Mexico.”
