Pepsi Pickle Max

A tall glass of Pepsi Max poured over dill pickle brine ice cubes, so the tang builds slow instead of hitting you all at once. Rimmed in celery salt and finished with a pickle spear, it's the fast-food novelty made proper at home.

Serves 4 · as served on Bluesky ↗

A pickle floating in a glass of Pepsi Max sounds like a dare, but I've made worse cocktails at a Fourth of July and this one's actually got a plan behind it. The trick is freezing the dill brine into its own ice cubes so the pickle flavor melts in slow instead of dumping vinegar into your pop all at once — you get that salty-tangy edge building through the whole glass instead of one weird gulp up front. A celery salt rim ties it to the KFC picnic bucket vibe without you needing a drive-thru. Dill sprig and a spear on top because if you're going to commit to a pickle drink, you might as well let it look proud of itself. My sister-in-law Denise dared me to make one of these at her lake house last summer and by the second pitcher the skeptics were asking for the recipe.

Ingredients

Fresh

• 4 sprig fresh dill

Fridge

• 1½ cup dill pickle brine (divided)
• 4 piece dill pickle spears

Pantry

• 1 liter Pepsi Max (cold)

Spice rack

• 2 tbsp celery salt
• 1 tbsp kosher salt

Directions

1. Pour dill pickle brine into an ice cube tray and freeze solid — this is your flavor delivery system, so don't rush it. ⏱ 4 hr
2. On a small plate, stir together celery salt and kosher salt.
3. Wet the rim of each glass with a splash of the remaining dill pickle brine, then dip the rims into the salt mixture to coat.
4. Fill each rimmed glass with the frozen pickle brine ice cubes once they've fully set.
5. Slowly pour Pepsi Max over the ice, letting the fizz settle before topping off.
6. Garnish each glass with a dill pickle spears and a fresh dill sprig, and serve right away while the brine cubes are just starting to weep.

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