The Blood Mary, Which One Will You Choose?

The Bloody Mary is the most coddled of cocktails. No other mixed drink has had so many ingredients specially created for use in it.  Camper English on the red and spicy bestseller in bars.
In its early years, the Bloody Mary was called “strictly vile” and “a savage combination of tomato juice and vodka” but somehow has become one of the world’s most popular drinks. Initially a two-ingredient cocktail, bartenders have come up with dozens of ways to spice it up, to use other liquors, to serve it and to garnish it, making it one of the most adaptable drinks around. Or, as German bartender Nils Boese says, “The Bloody Mary is the Esperanto in the drink universe. It connects everything, but unfortunately is much neglected.”
While the creation story for the Bloody is fairly well established, there is not much printed evidence that what these bartenders claimed (far after the fact) is actually true. I wouldn’t be surprised if new information turned up to throw everything into question, but for now, we’ll tell story as we know it. The credit for the creation of the Bloody Mary is most often given to Fernand “Pete” Petiot in the 1920s. However, as Dale DeGroff points out in his book The Essential Cocktail, Petiot may have in fact just improved upon a recipe created by George Jessel. Jessel’s recipe was merely vodka and tomato juice; Petiot added the spices of salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. The Petiot version was supposedly created in Harry’s New York Bar in Paris in the early 1920s. This was shortly after the introduction of canned tomato juice to the European market.
According to Harry McElhone’s (owner of Harry’s) grandson, the drink was named for a woman named Mary who regularly came to the bar to wait for a boyfriend who frequently didn’t keep his appointments. Apparently this reminded the bartender of Mary Queen of Scots waiting in prison exile. After American Prohibition ended, Petiot took a job at the King Cole Room in the St. Regis Hotel in New York and brought the drink with him. However, the hotel’s owner John Astor objected to the name Bloody Mary so he renamed it the Red Snapper. Also, the Bloody Mary was initially made with vodka in France but as vodka was not yet widely available in the United States, gin was substituted when Petiot moved. The change of base spirit could be an additional reason for the name change from the Bloody Mary to the Red Snapper. Years later in the 1950s, the drink regained its original name (Bloody Mary) and its original ingredient (vodka). The drink’s popularity may have been spread in part advertising of the Smirnoff vodka brand in America, in order to increase sales of that spirit. Smirnoff famously made the Moscow Mule into a popular cocktail as well.
The Bloody Mary is probably the most coddled of cocktails. I can think of no other drink that has had so many ingredients created specially for use in it. Absolut Peppar, launched in 1986, was first flavored Absolut vodka in the portfolio, “created with the popularity of the Bloody Mary in mind,” according to a representative from the company. Absolut’s next flavor, Citron, was and is also used in Bloody Marys. This year, when Effen vodka’s new cucumber flavor was released, a brand representative told me she thought it would be most often used in the Bloody, and this cocktail is promoted in the brand’s advertisements. Belvedere vodka recently released Belvedere Bloody Mary; a macerated vodka with black pepper, horseradish, bell pepper, chili pepper, vinegar distillate, tomato, and lemon. And that’s merely the base spirit: There are probably hundreds of brands of “Bloody Mary mix” on the market. These are targeted to bars and to home consumers alike. They come in various degrees of spiciness and different points on the scale from synthetic to organic. Beyond the liquids, there are packets of Bloody Mary spices, Bloody Mary seasoning mixes in liquid form, Bloody Mary cocktail rim salt, and even special Bloody Mary glasses. There is an entire industry created around this one drink. So let’s discuss what’s in it.
Tomato Juice
The tomato is native to South America, and was brought back to Europe by the Spanish conquistadores. It grew especially well in the warm climates of the Mediterranean (where it is essential in Italian cooking) and Spain, but didn’t take off in England or in the United States until the mid-late1700s. Today, major tomato growing countries include China, the US, Turkey, India, and Italy. Though botanically a fruit, the tomato is usually treated as a vegetable. (The United States Supreme Court legally declared in 1893 that the tomato is a vegetable based on its use rather than its biology.)
What we call “tomato juice” is actually cooked tomatoes, rather than raw. To make it, tomatoes, along with other vegetables, herbs, and spices, are boiled or simmered until the flavor changes and much water is boiled off. Commercial tomato juices also contain preservatives and sweeteners, and many contain coloring as well. (In the United States, the sweetener is often high-fructose corn syrup.) Nearly all bars that serve “homemade bloody mary mix” merely add spices to canned or bottled tomato juice, rather than making the tomato juice from tomatoes. This is more like making a batched cocktail at the beginning of a shift, to which one adds vodka and garnish when ordered, than it is like cooking from scratch.
In recent years, a few bartenders have begun using “tomato water” instead of tomato juice. That is, they strain the water out of raw (rather than cooked) tomatoes. Some do this by chopping tomatoes and letting them drip through a sieve into a bowl for several hours. Others blanch the tomatoes to remove the skin then strain out the solids. Others freeze the tomatoes overnight then pull the skin off before chopping. And still others merely muddle cherry tomatoes in a glass, shake the cocktail, and strain. Tomato water is, as the name implies, far more watery than tomato juice. It is still savory but also refreshing, tasting like fresh tomatoes but unlike tomato juice. Typically, Bloody Mary-type drinks made with tomato water are served up in cocktail glasses rather than long over ice. These are more often served at night along with other culinary-inspired, savory cocktails (in restaurant settings rather than in bars) instead of limited to breakfast time, as with the standard version.
Achieving Balance, Adding Flavor
With only tomato juice and vodka, the Bloody Mary is a pretty bland and terrible drink – too flavorless of an alcohol with a too intensely-flavored mixer. A proper Bloody Mary can invoke all the tastes – sweet (tomato juice), salt (salt, celery salt), sour (a squeeze of lemon or lime), bitter (bitters, celery and other herbs), and umami (savory tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, meats). The trick to making a proper Bloody Mary is controlling the balance between these tastes. First, we spice up the flavor. Even the earliest version of the drink included salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.  Today’s bartenders add spices including Tabasco, Sriracha, horseradish, wasabi, capers, and garlic. A few bars add curry to the recipe and call the drink the Persian Bloody Mary.
Frederik Myhr, Bar manager of Al Mercante in Copenhagen, adds dill to his drink, both with dill schnapps and fresh herbs. Then he softens the drink with additional savory ingredients. Bloody Marys benefit from a splash of brine solution, most commonly found in bars in the form of olive jar “juice” but any pickled product helps the drink. Bloody Marys in various bars have included pickled olives, asparagus, green beans, okra (popular in the southern part of the US), banana peppers, cucumbers, pepperoncini, pickled onions, and pickled green tomatoes known as tomolives. Both the brine juice in these garnishes and a splash of the brine liquid is a great addition to any Bloody Mary. Lately bartenders in several countries have been adding balsamic vinegar to the recipe. Nils Boese of Manhattan Bar in Hildesheim recommends experimenting with truffle or walnut oil as well to give the drink additional mouthfeel and taste. The twist on the drink served at his bar is added cherry juice and grenadine, making it more juicy. Others add orange juice.
Smoke flavors are becoming are becoming popular in many cocktail categories, as are, smoky spirits like mezcal and Islay whisky. These spirits have made their way into some versions of the Bloody Mary, along with barbecue and/or a smoked salt rim on the glass. Along with smoke, meat in cocktails has been a large trend over the past several years, and the Bloody Mary’s bold flavor can stand up to meat better than most drinks. Of course, the The Bloody Bull, or Bull Shot includes beef bouillon and has been around for many years. Also, seafood restaurants frequently garnish the Bloody with a large shrimp. Some bars serve it instead with a stick of beef jerky as a garnish, but lately cooked strips of bacon have been a popular option. A version at a restaurant called Café Lily in Georgia offers a Bloody with a splash of sherry in the drink and chorizo sausage as a garnish.
Some bartenders, rather than putting the spices and flavors into the drink, choose to infuse the vodka instead. Spice flavors are particularly easy to infuse into vodka, and take only one day reach a optimum spiciness. I have made separate vodka infusions of peppercorns, peperonchini, chili peppers, jalapeno peppers, horseradish, and wasabi paste. All were great on their own, but blended together and put into a Bloody one could taste each infused flavor individually in the drink. The current seasonal variation offered by Andreas Obermeier at Nightfly’s Club in Vienna is a Cajun Mary made with habanero chili infused vodka, plus homemade Cajun spices. Christian Zettl of the Pharmacy Bar in Graz, Austria serves a Rising Sun of Mary with ginger-infused vodka, plus soy sauce and wasabi paste in the drink.
Non-Vodka Recipes
Vodka is by far the most popular base spirit for the Bloody Mary, but nearly every other one is also used to create a variation. The gin version, of course, is the Red Snapper. Nikolai Augustin or Galerie & Bar Meisterschueler in Berlin uses both gin and vodka together in the drink. The Bloody Mary Meisterschueler contains Absolut Peppar, Hendrick´s Gin, orange juice, tomato juice, celery bitters, and typical spices. Augustin says the pepper vodka is too strong on its own, so by adding the gin he can not only dilute its power; he gets the additional flavors found in Hendrick’s. (He also says the orange juice makes the drink taste fresher, and that the celery bitters are an homage to the classic garnish.) The tequila version of the drink is usually called the Bloody Maria.
At Shepheard Bar in Cologne, they offer a Bloody Mary made with tequila, Dijon honey mustard and spices. The Bloody Geisha or Bloody Tokyo is made with sake. The Bloody Scotsman is made with scotch, and lately Bloody Marys made with smoky Islay whisky have been popping up. A bar called Fig in Los Angeles serves a Brasilian Mary with carrot-tomato juice and cachaca (also a Foie Mary, which is garnished with foie gras-stuffed olives). The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh offers one version with rum, mustard, caraway seeds, and habanero peppers, and a Thai-inspired version with Hendrick’s gin, coriander, kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, and green chili, among other variations. The English wikipedia page lists many versions of this drink probably not seen on many, if any menus, including the Bloody Fairy (absinthe) and Bloody Maureen (Guinness).
There is another beer version of the Bloody Mary; one of the two versions of the Michelada. The version that calls for tomato juice is more popular in Mexico and Canada, and Budweiser has even released a “Bud and Clamato” drink in the can called Chelada. (The other version of the Michelada is usually lime juice, beer, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce over ice, with a salt rim.)
Serving Styles
Most bartenders agree that the tomato juice in the Bloody Mary should not be shaken, but how they go about mixing it varies. Some shake everything except the tomato juice then combine the juice with the contents of the shaker. Others simply stir all the ingredients together. Still others prefer to “roll” the drink; to pour it back and forth between the shaker and the glass in which it will be served. Bartenders seem divided on whether or not to serve the drink with ice or not.  Often those who include ice serve it in a large Collins or pint glass, whereas those who prefer their drink ice-free may use a goblet or juice/fizz glass instead. René Förster, Barchef at Twist at Innside in Dresden, avoids the dilution that ice causes by using frozen cherry tomatoes instead of ice cubes. Many bars throughout the United States and a few in London offer “Make Your Own Bloody Mary” bars, usually during weekend brunch. When the drink is ordered, the bartender pours a glass of vodka for customers (to control the portion of alcohol served) and allows the customer to mix the rest of the drink at the bar. It will be set up with several pitchers of juices (tomato, Clamato, spicy mix), along with a variety of the spices, vegetables, and garnishes mentioned above.
Other restaurants like the Sky Restaurant in Massachusetts allow customers to customize their drink without mixing it themselves. They give patrons a card with checkboxes to select the desired brand of vodka or tequila, spiciness of tomato juice, spices, and garnishes. Customers hand the card to the waiter or bartender and let them prepare the drink. No matter who is customizing the cocktail – the bartender or the customer- the Bloody Mary invokes a different reaction among its fans than other cocktails. While mixologists argue over the one-and-only proper way to make a Martini or a Manhattan, most people agree that the Bloody Mary has no fixed proportions, and only vodka and tomato as its fixed ingredients. Everyone has a favorite version of the drink, a favorite bar in which to get one, or a favorite ingredient that makes the drink unique and personal. When it comes to the Bloody Mary, bartenders spend their time not arguing about the origins or ingredients; only who makes the best one.
Sidebar: The Bloody Caesar
The Caesar is simply a Bloody Mary made with Clamato juice, which is a combination of tomato juice, spices, and clam flavor made “using a top-secret process for mollusk reanimation”. It is very popular in Canada for some reason; more popular than the Bloody Mary itself.The Bloody Caesar was invented in 1969 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada by an Italian restaurateur. He mixed the clam and tomato juice in a tribute to the Italian meal of spaghetti with tomato sauce and clams. The name Caesar comes from its Italian heritage, and the drink became locally and then nationally popular.
Independently, Clamato juice was developed by the Mott’s company to be a cocktail sauce (as in “shrimp cocktail,” a dipping sauce for shrimp or oysters; not the kind you drink) based on the flavor of Manhattan clam chowder – a thick soup of clams and tomato sauce. The brand’s success is and was due to the Caesar. Due to its popularity, Clamato is now available in regular, Extra Spicy, and The Works (basically a Bloody Caesar mix), and even as a premixed bottled beverage with vodka already added. According to the brand, the Bloody Caesar is Canada’s top-selling cocktail.
Recipes:
Fresh Tomato Bloody Mary – By Bridget Albert, from the book “Market-Fresh Mixology”
6 cherry tomatoes
1 basil leaf
1 pinch fresh oregano
1 pint salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 dash Tabasco Sauce
1 dash Worcestershire Sauce
The juice of 1 lemon wedge
1.5 ounces citrus vodka (may substitute silver tequila)
1 oregano sprig (for garnish)
In mixing glass, muddle 5 tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, Tabasco Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, and lemon juice. Add citrus vodka. Add ice ot tin. Shake well. Double-strian into cocktail glass using the strainer on the shaker while pouring contents through the sieve placed over the glass. Garnish with an oregano sprig speared through remaining cherry tomato.
Rising Son of Mary – From Pharmacy Bar-Lounge
3c l ginger-infused vodka
1 cl Sake Choya
0,5 cl soy sauce
1 lime wedge
1 pinch of wasabi paste
15 cl tomato juice
Mix wasabi with tomato juice and add juice of the lime wedge. Add other ingredients and stir on ice. Strain into Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with slice of fresh ginger, a slice of yellow pepper and coriander leaves. Serve with saucer and napkin.
Bloody Mary – From Twist
4 cl Absolut Pepper
1 cl tawny port
1 cl fresh lemon juice
1 dash celery bitters
2 drops Tabasco
2-4 dash Worcestershire Sauce
a little bit horseraddish
Salt, black pepper
fill up tomatoe juice
Stir all ingredients in a longdrink glass on frozen cocktail tomatoes and garnish with celery and lemonpeel.
Bloody Mary – From Al Mercante
3 cl lemon vodka
2 cl dill schnaps
Sprig of fresh dill
1/4 red bell pepper
2 dash Worchester Sauce
2 Dash Tabasco
Pinch of celery salt
2cl lemon juice
2 dashes celery bitters
10 cl tomato juice
Ground pepper
Muddle dill and pepper. Add the rest and stir or rock n roll. Agraïm into highball and garnish with a Green pepper or jalapeno.
 
This article was first published in MIXOLOGY Issue 4/2011.