Olives are a classic martini garnish. Traditional olives to use include Spanish Queen and Green Barouni olives. Black olives are an option, but only use them for a non-traditional martini recipe.  It’s your choice to use olives with or without seeds and with or without something extra stuffed in them. You don’t have to go out of your way to get fancy olives. The basic ones you’d find at the grocery work just fine. Don’t add olives to fruity martinis because the tastes won’t mix well. Olives usually come in a jar in a pickle or brine liquid. A dirty martini leaves that brine on the olive, and sometimes adds an extra splash of brine. If you’re not making a dirty martini, be sure to rinse off the olives with water before adding them to the drink.  Briefly run the olives under some cold water to rinse them. You don’t need to wash them for a long time. If you are making drinks in your home or with friends, ask if they want the olives rinsed or with the brine left on them. If you have small skewers, stick one through one or more olives and place it in the drink. If you don’t have those, wooden toothpicks work, as well. Otherwise, drop the olives directly into the drink.  This is more about the drinker’s preference. Some people want to briefly add the olive taste to the drink and then remove the olives. That’s when skewers come in handy. Another option is to lay the skewer across the glass so the olives just barely touch the top of the drink. If you’d like to add some different flavors to your martini, select olives stuffed with a variety of other foods. Pimento is the most common stuffing, and is easy to find. For something more exotic, get olives stuffed with almonds, garlic, or cheese. If you are making the drink for someone else, it’s good to mention what type of olives you have so they can decide if they want that or not.
Choose green olives for vodka and gin martinis. Rinse the olives off. Skewer the olives or drop them straight into the drink. Experiment with stuffed olives.