Bloody Mary Cocktails

[beans]

Yes, I've prided myself with home-made, carefully chosen ingredients. But when in a pinch or when pleasantly surprised by a bar's house brand, what are your favourites or recommendations?

Me -- Demitri's Bloody Mary Seasoning from Seattle, WA. All you do is add tomato juice. The stuff is amazing.

[jackal10]

I'm a purist:

Fresh tomato juice

Good Vodka

Lea and Perrins Worcestshire Sauce (lots)

Few drops Tabasco

Salt

A little sherry

NO ice, lemon, pre-mixes

[Nick]

Same as Jackal, but with ice, no sherry, and substitute V-8 for the tomato juice. Been years since I've made them. Used to be a great start in the morning to continue the previous day's drinking.

[Lan4Dawg]

agree w/ Nick re: V-8 juice (I prefer the spicy if I can find it) & use celery salt on the rim. Other than that same receipt as jackal10 except for one major difference....I make Bloody Mary's w/ GIN!

Oh & I forgot, I do like a squeeze of lemon.

Edited August 3, 2003 by Lan4Dawg (log)

[Jason Perlow]

I like my bloody marys with a shot of beef boullion added to the glass -- aka the Bloody Bull, quite popular in New Orleans. Almost no bar around here has the boullion ready though.

[MHesse]

I like to add horseradish to my BM's. Fresh grated is best, but the stuff from the bottle works well too.

--mh

[MatthewB]

Referring to Bloody Mary's as "BMs" is kinda scary.

In any event . . .

If you've fresh lovage, take a stalk--they're hollow--and use it as a straw in a Bloody Mary.

[maggiethecat]

one major difference....I make Bloody Mary's w/ GIN!

Me too, because they're better that way, and I rarely buy vodka. (My husband gets it on occasion when he feels Cosmo-deprived.)

I prefer V-8 or Clamato juice, if available, but if not--any old tomato juice tarts up into a Bloody Mary just fine.

Lots of course-ground pepper, please.

[fresco]

Is the Bloody Caesar at all popular outside Canada?

[maggiethecat]

Is the Bloody Caesar at all popular outside Canada?

It is chez nous, but the demographic's skewed. I can't say I've ever heard an American order one, but, I'm not in bars that much.

[DrinkBoy]

Scratch is definately best.... but... if the time comes when you need a "shortcut", then I too recommend Demitri's. You can adjust the strength of flavor to your own tastes, plus of course add some of your own ingredients if you might have some on hand.

I always like to add a healthy dose of chili powder as well.

-Robert

www.Drinkboy.com

[NeroW]

The Bloody Mary. My old boss used to call it the "Meal-Replacement Shake."

As you probably know, I'll drink whatever, but if I had my druthers, I like the Snakebite mix. My old boss used to bring crates of it back from Saugatuck, MI, but I've never seen it in stores myself. It doesn't mix too well--it's very thick. But it's a kicker.

There's a seafood joint in Wicker Park (Nola's), that serves their Bloodies with the Chef's homemade beef jerky as a garnish.

I also like it when they are garnished with shrimp.

I like them best with Tanqueray Silver Vodka, a little Triple Sec, dill sauce, Worsty, cracked pepper, and a squeeze of lime. Pickles/jalapeno/3 green olives/celery (and shrimp!) garnish. No celery salt on the rim for me. No damn steak sauce. Nothing ruins a Bloody faster than steak sauce.

I also like those tom-olive thingies (pickled green tomatoes that look like olives) and pickled asparagus.

And, of course, they're great with a shot or so of Guinness Stout in them.

Aw, Fritz, have one for me this morning.

Cheers.

[beans]

I also like it when they are garnished with shrimp.

We used to serve a 16 oz Bloody Mary, made with Sacramento Tomato Juice, Demitri's Bloody Mary Seasoning mix; garnished with one each of the following:

good shake of black pepper

lime squeeze

lemon squeeze

celery stalk "tree"

21/25 count cooked, tail on shrimp

and a 2 ounce domestic draft chaser served alongside in a red wine glass. Horseradish (on the side in a solo souffle cup), hot sauce, A-1, Worchestire, olives or cocktail onions were available at the guest's request. Not sure we had the beef bouillon cubes (might have) but a bottle of Clamato was around somewhere....

Bloody Mary cocktails on late Sunday mornings/early afternoons ruled.

Darned if I can remember the brand of bloody mix I purchased while in Alaska.... It was pleasantly horseradish hot while not being too hot and spicy.

Anyone else have premade mix favourites?

edit: typo fix

Edited August 4, 2003 by beans (log)

[MatthewB]

Get with the lovage "straw," people.

[beans]

It's on my list of things to do and try Matthew!

I entirely trust your recommendations to be delish!

[NeroW]

Get with the lovage "straw," people. 

I don't know, dude . . .

It seems a little too "Martha" for me.

[JamesMorrow]

The best bloody I ever had was at the Yacht Club of Rio de Janeiro, years ago the morning after a huge all-night wedding. The barman built them, step by step, muddling garlic salt, worcestershire, lemon juice, etc, with ice before hitting with vodka and tomato juice. They were fantastic, but I think the setting and circumstance were major contributors.

A nice thig I like to do is add a little Balsamic at the end; was first turned on to this at the Peacock Cafe on Prospect St. in Washington; adds a great tang!

[dbrociner]

There's a mix called Sting Ray from a company in Maryland that I liked when I could find it. It was on the expensive side, about $7 for a quart. Lots of horseradish and pretty spicy. I'd cut it down sometimes with regular tomato juice for people who didn't want it quite so hot. As for homemade I like some hot sauce, some horseradish, some fresh ground pepper and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Add that celery stalk and you've got a meal in a glass.

[Elissa]

Never will I forget how these most beloved of all Meal-Replacement Shakes were enhanced by the crisp pickled green beans a college chum added :yum: which doubled as stirrers if not consumed in a single bite following first sips. My other favorite Bloody was made by a fellow who tragically no longer tends bar at Fanelli's in SoHo I asked once what his trick was. He said that in Kubrick's film the Shining the bartender in that most eeeeerie ghost bar is making a Bloody Mary (in spite of it being called something else in the movie) and that after rewinding the scene a hundred or so times, he had the recipe down pat

[herbacidal]

just this friday we tested the first of my infused vodkas.

Let me tell you:

habanero infused vodka gives a nice additional kick to a mary.

we used equal parts habanero vodka and regular vodka, to about 35%

(feel free to modify that, we had to because I made the habanero VERY VERY STRONG)

juice of a lime and a lemon

about a third a cup of water (seriously, the habanero vodka is strong)

some horseradish

tomato juice to fill

We made 2 pitchers full (the second had more horseradish than the first).

I did add tabasco and pepper to my own cup.

[KatieLoeb]

just this friday we tested the first of my infused vodkas.

Let me tell you:

habanero infused vodka gives a nice additional kick to a mary.

we used equal parts habanero vodka and regular vodka, to about 35%

(feel free to modify that, we had to because I made the habanero VERY VERY STRONG)

juice of a lime and a lemon

about a third a cup of water (seriously, the habanero vodka is strong)

some horseradish

tomato juice to fill

We made 2 pitchers full (the second had more horseradish than the first).

I did add tabasco and pepper to my own cup.

Speaking as one who survived this experiment, I will say that the end product was delicious. However, the habanero vodka on its own, could singe off your eyebrows and melt your eyeballs with a mere sniff

Next time Herb, I suggest a few less peppers in the bottle. Maybe two? This shit was wicked strong, but surprisingly addictive once tamed a bit.

[NeroW]

He said that in Kubrick's film the Shining the bartender in that most eeeeerie ghost bar is making a Bloody Mary (in spite of it being called something else in the movie) and that after rewinding the scene a hundred or so times, he had the recipe down pat

What? What is it?! What is the recipe?

That's my favorite movie, favorite scene. I HAVE to HAVE Lloyd's recipe, lissome.

Do you know it?

[Basilgirl]

My favorite scene too! So scary.

Tabasco makes a good bloody mix.

Go figure.

[ConCuisinier]

mix schmix. having just been released from incarceration into the capable hands of the USParole and Probation Office i am prohibited from even ONE bloody. i had two "virgin mary's" / bloody "shames" the first day out, and it just ain't the same w/o the hootch. i mean its too tomato-ey. club soda helped alot. i've got 35 years in the bar biz and more secrets than that, and my hometown of NYC probably sells more perverse versions than anywhere.

keep it simple. Sacramento and only Sac tom juice. L & P Worschestire. real Tabasco. Fresh horseradish. Lots. Fresh black pepper. Koscher salt. a coupla drops of lemon from a fruit not a bottle. a celery stick -- preferably from the otherwise unusable feathery heart. Ice. Drink. Tip the bartender. My friend Chef Sam used to bitch on Sunday mornings in jail: "Jeez! If i only could have two bloody friggin' Mary's and one cigarette..." And for God's sake keep that awful musty celery salt for some other purpose (cat food ?).

--ConCuisinier---

[Elissa]

mix schmix. having just been released from incarceration into the capable hands of the USParole and Probation Office i am prohibited from even ONE bloody.  i had two "virgin mary's" / bloody "shames" the first day out, and it just ain't the same w/o the hootch. i mean its too tomato-ey. club soda helped alot.  i've got 35 years in the bar biz and more secrets than that, and my hometown of NYC probably sells more perverse versions than anywhere.

keep it simple. Sacramento and only Sac tom juice. L & P Worschestire. real Tabasco. Fresh horseradish. Lots. Fresh black pepper. Koscher salt. a coupla drops of lemon from a fruit not a bottle. a celery stick -- preferably from the otherwise unusable feathery heart. Ice. Drink. Tip the bartender.  My friend Chef Sam used to bitch on Sunday mornings in jail: "Jeez!  If i only could have two bloody friggin' Mary's and one cigarette..." And for God's sake keep that awful musty celery salt for some other purpose (cat food ?).

--ConCuisinier---

Welcome back Con! Lovely to have you here with us. Is it okay to call you Con for short?

Anyway NeroW: Sorry! Ain't got it. He'd never divulge, but if you rent the movie I'd bet you can transcribe it.... goddamn it I want one now too. But it's after noon: are they still allowed?