The green ones with pimentos are made for martinis!
Or beer! DH likes Miller poured over 3 green "martini" olives; when he finishes the beer, he eats the beer-soaked olives!
Also want to comment that when thinking of buying high quality olives, go for the ones with the pits still in. You might be paying a little more for the weight of the pit, but generally, the pitted ones are not as good. The theory is that if the olive is good enough, growers don't want the olives damaged by pitting. In my deli, we sold both pitted and unpitted kalamatas. The pitted ones were softer... a little mushy...and didn't taste nearly as good, whereas the intact fruit was firm and flavorful. I tried to explain the difference to customers, but since the pitted ones were actually cheaper per pound even before the weight of the pit is considered, it was a tough sell. The pitted ones were cheaper because they were inferior olives, but the customers just saw $$ and the convenience of not having to pit them. I even offered samples so they could taste the difference... a few of them even accused me of trying to improve my bottom line at their expense... <sigh>
At the store where I now normally shop, they remodeled and added an olive bar... $8.99/pound. When I did the comparison, the jarred "quality" olives on the shelf are actually more per pound, so guess where I shop! The other thing I like about the olive bar is that you can buy many kinds (only one or two olives each, if you want) so that you can find what you really like without having to invest in a whole jar.
We have a VERY upscale Central Market in Mill Creek, WA, which has not only an olive bar, but an antipasto bar... they have such things as caper berries (the mature fruit instead of the bud) and other unusual items which I have come to love!
~sd
