It’s the brunch drink du jour, and can be made to suit anybody’s tastes.
It’s a sure cure for even the nastiest hangover, packed full of nutrients (and just enough booze to take the edge off).
It’s the only drink that can be a stand-in for a full meal, with a veritable buffet of garnish options to choose from.
It’s the Bloody Mary—and in this article, we’re going to teach you how to make one the right way, from choosing the best spirit to creating your own mix and deciding on a garnish style.
But to get you acquainted with the drink, let’s start with a bit of history.
The First Bloody Mary
No less than five different bartenders have laid claim to creating the Bloody Mary’s unusual combination of vodka and tomato juice. It may have been invented in the famous Harry’s New York Bar in Paris in 1921. Or by a bartender in New York’s 21 Club in the early 1930s—or even by a comedian who frequented the club.
But no matter which way you slice it, today’s Bloody Mary can’t be attributed to any single point of origin. It’s like trying to put your finger on who came up with the original idea for potato soup—there’s too much room for variations on the recipe to really claim that anyone did it first.
Similarly, there are at least three theories on the origin of the drink’s name: That it’s taken from the nickname for Queen Mary the First of England. Or perhaps from a waitress named Mary who worked at Chicago’s infamous Bucket of Blood bar. Or maybe it was just the result of some poor chap trying (and failing) to pronounce the Russian vodka brand used for the drink.
Which is all to say: As with many cocktails, there is no definitive history of the Bloody Mary. And as you’ll see in the next sections, there’s not just one “proper” way to mix one up, either.
Choosing Your Base Spirit
The one thing that most every mixologist, from amateur to professional, can agree on is that the Bloody Mary is made with vodka, Eastern Europe’s most recognizable spirit.
Vodka’s reputation for being colorless, odorless, and flavorless makes it the perfect spirit for a Bloody Mary, where it acts as a foundation for each other ingredient’s intense flavor to show its best side. The spirit’s low liquid density is a boon here too, as it cuts through the thickness of tomato juice while accentuating the fruit’s natural sweetness.
Look for a vodka that is affordable, but not overly cheap. Ideally, you want something that won’t give strong alcohol flavors to the drink; the best Bloody Marys often taste as if they have no alcohol in them at all.
Reyka Vodka, made in small batches in Iceland, gets our highest recommendation. At under 25 dollars per bottle, it’s one of the smoothest and cleanest vodkas we’ve used to mix with. If you can’t find that in your local liquor store, a classic Russian vodka like Stoli or Russian Standard will work well, too.
Nouveau variations of the Bloody Mary have substituted all manner of other spirits for the original clear distillate—but they’ve each taken on new names to differentiate themselves. We’ll tell you all about them in the final section of this guide.
Choosing A Tomato Juice and Seasonings
Standing strong beside vodka, tomato juice is the second pillar of the Bloody Mary’s cocktail foundations. It’s just as essential that you choose a high quality tomato juice for this drink as it is to use a good bottle of vodka.
R.W. Knudsen’s Organic Tomato Juice is the most readily available, high quality tomato juice on the market. It showcases everything you want from a fresh, ripe tomato: Savory sweetness, with just a hint of salt and acidity, and great body. Short of pressing your own in-season tomatoes for juice, it’s as good as tomato juice gets, and we strongly recommend using it for your next Bloody Mary.
But a Bloody Mary made with only vodka and tomato juice leaves much to be desired.
In contrast to most cocktails’ balance of boozy, sweet, sour, and sometimes bitter, the Bloody Mary emphasizes a different range of tastes and flavors. To add depth, complexity, and deliciousness to the drink, you’ll need to look more towards savory, salty, and spicy.
Worcestershire sauce is the most common savory addition to a bloody mary. But if you’re looking for something a bit more unique, a light dab of soy sauce, Thai fish sauce, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos work wonders.
Depending on your final mix, you may or may not need to add salt (in the form of table salt) to your Bloody Mary. But if you do, a seasoning salt like Lawry’s or celery salt can add depth and complexity to the final drink.
Spicy ingredients are the most diverse category of additions to a Bloody Mary mix. From old reliable hot sauces like Tabasco and Tapatio to ultra hot small batch hot sauces, your options here are nearly limitless. If you have a favorite hot sauce, use it in your Bloody Mary mix; if not, consider putting out a selection of hot sauces for you and your guests to add at their own discretion.
Making Your Personalized Bloody Mary Mix
With all of those ingredients in mind, you’ve reached the stage of creating your own Bloody Mary mix.
Start with a full bottle of tomato juice. Taste it, just as it is. What do you notice about it? Do you like how sweet it is, how savory it is, how sour it is?
The process for making Bloody Mary mix is much the same as building a big pot of soup. To your base, add just a dash of a seasoning, any seasoning, and taste it again. Do you like this new mix? If you add too much of a certain ingredient, add more tomato juice to balance it out.
Through trial and error, you will do something far beyond following a recipe—you will understand what makes your Bloody Mary the best one in the world, and therefore be able to defend it to the death against naysayers.
How Much Alcohol Goes In Your Bloody Mary?
A standard pour of vodka for a Bloody Mary will range between 1.5 and 2 ounces. Any less, and your drink will taste overly tomato-y; any more, and you’ll risk being absolutely smashed by the end of brunch.
Aim for about four times the amount of tomato juice as alcohol. So for a two ounce pour, eight ounces of Bloody Mary mix will do the trick.
Don’t Shake It
A word of warning: Tomato juice contains a few compounds that don’t react well to being shaken vigorously. Test it if you want; you’ll notice that the juice gets almost slimy, and can take on an unpleasant bitter note.
Instead, combine your pour of vodka with your Bloody Mary mix, add ice, and gently pour the mixture back and forth between two glasses (or a glass and a mixing tin). This will incorporate all the ingredients evenly without damaging the tomato juice.
Garnishing, the Final Step
Once your properly mixed Bloody Mary is resting gracefully in a tall glass, it needs to be decorated.
A simple celery stick is the bare minimum garnish. Olives add a nice touch, as do small pickles or cocktail onions.
But beyond that, the sky is really the limit. You can add a slice of crispy bacon. You can go way, way over the top, adding everything from popcorn shrimp to lobster claws to a whole sandwich, right on top of your drink. Too much? Possibly—but if you’re looking to show off to a brunch crowd, the Bloody Mary will give you the stage to display your culinary chops.
Bloody Mary Variations
And should you ever become bored with the classic Bloody Mary—or just find yourself wanting to branch out and experiment with ever more ingredients—there are plenty of ways to play with the original recipe.
Substituting tequila for vodka will give you a Bloody Maria. You can leave the liquor out entirely, and mix light beer with Bloody Mary mix for a michelada. Or you can do it the Canadian way with the Bloody Caesar, mixing clamato juice and spices with your vodka. And last but not least, you can simply serve your specially-crafted Bloody Mary mix over ice to teetotalers as a Virgin Mary.
You’re now equipped with everything you need to master this most classic of brunch drinks. Good luck, and godspeed.
Disclosure: Clicking on these links and making a purchase may earn us a small referral fee, at no extra cost to you. Learn more here.
