All Hail Bloody Mary

So, you’ve just woken up following a raging session only to find you have to do it all again, or worse, go to work. As you reassess your priorities and succumb to an all-pervading regret, why not settle that pounding head with a big old glass of Bloody Mary. It may not be the solution to all of your problems, but this alcoholic gazpacho may just be thing to bring you back to life. So, lets stick a finger to those post-party blues and knock up a glass of the best darn Bloody Mary on the internet.

There’s More to the Bloody Mary than Meets the Eye

What Tomato Juice is Best for a Bloody Mary?

Ah, the age-old question. If you ask the purists, they will tell you it requires an intricate blend of 4 different tomatoes, pureed with a hint of exotic herbs and spices. If you’re anything like me, however, then you’ll probably require your Bloody Mary while nursing a bloody hangover. So, lets skip the unnecessary hard work and go for a perfectly acceptable drop of the store-bought stuff. I generally use the Campbell’s variety due to its availability worldwide, while anything boasting 100% tomato and a low salt content should do the trick. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could also opt for something with a little more depth like Clamato.

Which Vodka Should you use for a Bloody Mary?

There’s a school of thought that advises you use ‘bottom-shelf’ vodka for mixing this power-giving drink as the Capsaicin in the chili pepper will mask the harsh notes of the cheap alcohol. I don’t fully embrace this idea, as we are looking to alleviate that hangover, not cause a new one. Therefore, I’d advise using a good mid-range vodka for your cocktail such as Stoli (formerly Stolichnaya). Generally speaking, I firmly believe that any ‘top shelf’ vodka brands are purely marketing and don’t bring anything extra to the table.

How to Garnish Your Bloody Mary

You’ve all seen it, that overly-embellished Bloody Mary with a whole manner of grilled and fried food-things sticking out of it. Hamburgers on spikes, sausages jutting out like phallic megaliths, pickles, vegetables, chicken wings hanging perilously over the lip of the glass. For the first rule of thumb however, you should still have access to your drink, so, let’s not go too nuts, and you definitely should not have any spikes sitting at eye-level.

Kicking things off, it’s standard practice to have a stick of celery to nibble on and stir the drink if necessary. While, a singular pickle and a cherry tomato will also help add a little ‘glamour’ to proceedings. In addition, a slice of the crispiest bacon you can rustle up will taste amazing with this decidedly savoury cocktail, just rest it on the glass though, as you will not do bacon justice by leaving it go soggy.

A Secret Ingredient for your Bloody Mary

I’ve seen all kinds of additions going into a bloody mary’s around the land, many of which aim to add a tang of smokiness by employing special liquors, spicy condiments and exotic sauces. I tend to skip all of that nonsense however, and go straight to the source by casting a few drops of liquid smoke into the mix. This means that you will get a level of smokiness that you have complete control over, and your tasty drink will not become tainted by any additional wild flavours.

Courting Intrigue

As most cocktails seem to see their origin story shrouded in the mists of a drunken haze, it comes as no surprise that many folks step forward to lay claim to each boozy concoction, and the Bloody Mary comes as no exception. Working backwards, however, you can kind of get an idea of the timeline for the development of this famous tomatoey cocktail.

A friend of mine once found gainful employment by the St Regis Hotel corporation, and she in turn gleefully informed me that each hotel bar had its own regional version of the Bloody Mary in honour of its inception at one of their establishments. Delving into this narrative, however, it turns out that this savoury repast only reached the brand’s doorstep when they hired star bartender, Fernand Petiot, who had already developed the drink elsewhere.

As it turned out, Fernand Petiot had essentially taken a bare bones incarnation of the Bloody Mary that was drunkenly concocted and named by then movie star, George Jessel and enhanced it with additional spices. George’s early version of the drink essentially contained 2 parts tomato juice and 1 part vodka, with very little seasoning.

Prior to all of this, several non-alcoholic tomato juice based drinks circulated the restaurant scene such as the Oyster Cocktail and the Tomato Juice Cocktail and helped folks to become acclimatized to its taste and eventually saw the inevitable addition of alcohol into their midst.