Dirty Martini Recipe

bottoms up> Tully Nut has been a secret for more than 40 years

The Super Tully Nut is made at the #1 Tavern at First and Atlantic avenues.

But this is one drink you can’t make at home.

Only one person is said to know the secret recipe, and that’s Mark Tully, who first came up with the formula in 1969. Tully, whose real name is Romolo Leomporra, performed on Broadway and nightclubs with entertainers like Billie Holiday, Phyllis Diller and the Smothers Brothers.

He said he took the stage name of Mark Tully because he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to get work using his own name.

After finishing a tour of the show “Bells Are Ringing” in the early 1960s, Tully came to North Wildwood and opened a small hotel. That venture eventually allowed him to buy the #1 Tavern.

The Super Tully Nut is the bar’s signature cherry-red drink, renowned for its potency and secrecy. Tully said that when he was experimenting with the formula, a few different versions were made first. There were two drinks using four liquor combinations and two drinks with five. He tested the concoctions on his family members and a few trusting employees, and they all picked what is known today as the Super Tully Nut as their favorite.

The one they chose is made with a combination of five different liquors – but Tully said the way it is put together is equally important.

“I have a special room where I make it in big vats. It takes about four days for all the ingredients to marry. Each day there is something I do to it until it's finished,” he said.

In 43 years, Tully said, he has never changed the formula.

Tully said he even has a plan for the secret recipe in the event of his death.

He said he has the recipe on audio, video and written down at a location that only one other person knows. That location, he said, can only be accessed by his wife, but even she isn’t privy to the secret.

“When I die, that person will tell my wife, and she'll be able to go there and get it,” he said.

Have a Dirty Weekend with an Extra Dirty Martini

What’s a girl to do when she’s on the verge of the weekend and she’s feeling a little dirty or wants to get her guy feeling a little dirty?  The obvious answer is to shower and get that dirty feeling off your body, but that’s not the kind of dirty I’m talking about…get it?

It’s no secret I like a good martini : gin, vodka, fruity and wussy or knock me on my ass strong.  If it’s served in a martini glass, odds are that I’ll try it and probably like it, a lot!  This one is a bit of an exception.  The dirty martini is a vodka martini with a splash of olive juice and is usually served with extra olives (since the drinker of this vodka cocktail has an obvious love of olives).   But then there’s the extra dirty martini recipe which consists of more than a splash of olive juice (or brine if you prefer).  This is Craig’s go-to drink.  I can always tell what kind of day he’s had at work based on his drink choice: dirty martini, extra dirty martini or a manhattan.  Let’s just say if he’s making up an extra dirty martini I know it’s time for me to get extra dirty.

The dirty martini recipe is a very simple one, but it’s surprising how often bars and restaurants don’t get it quite right.  Most of the time it’s not been good, we’ve found that there is a soapy taste to the drink (usually caused by the glasses not being properly rinsed or the the olive holder hasn’t been properly cleaned).  Because the drink is so simple, you can taste everything that’s in it, so it’s very easy to taste these off flavors.

Since this is a drink that showcases olives, this is the perfect time to break out those blue cheese stuffed, almond stuffed or any other type of specialty olive you or your significant other may like.  Craig likes it straight forward: 4 Queen Sevillano Olives and the brine from the same jar.

To give you an idea how much he loves Olives….One year I went to a bar supply store and bought him a gallon jar of olives for Christmas.  I wrapped it up, along with his other gifts.  While everything else went into a pile, those olives were proudly displayed for all to see when they came to the house.  Storing a gallon of olives became an entirely different issue.   Needless to say, there were numerous dirty martini’s and extra dirty martini’s made that holiday season and everyone in this house was in an especially good mood.

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