Gin Bloody Mary Recipe

Before there was a bloody Mary, there was the red snapper drink. Though difficult to prove definitively, it is widely accepted that the drink we now call the bloody Mary was first created in Paris France in the 1920’s at a bar called The New Yorker.  What most people in the U.S. don’t realize is that this cocktail was not made with vodka.  The original spicy brunch cocktail was made with gin and called the Red Snapper.  It wasn’t until the 1960’s that vodka surpassed gin as the most popular bloody Mary spirit of choice.

Derived from juniper berries and of other natural botanicals, gin has much better potential for unlocking and amplifying the spices in the red snapper drink.  When mixed properly, the red snapper explodes with bold fresh flavor.  As a student of the bloody Mary I will confess two facts: 1. the thought of mixing gin with tomato juice struck me as repulsive. 2. Since mixing gin with tomato juice I may never use vodka again.  (I’ve actually carried mustard on my person when going to a bar, in case this essential ingredient does not grace the bartenders’ arsenal.)

Have some fun with this recipe. Mixing a red snapper drink or bloody Mary cocktail can be a great social activity. Get a long mixing spoon and a large mixing glass like the ones featured below. Drop a couple large ice cubes in the mixing glass. (The bigger the cubes, the better. Small cubes melt faster and dilute the drink. I ordered a cool ice-cube tray from Amazon for about $8.00)

Next add a large dollop of fresh horseradish –not some horseradish sauce, the real thing! Don’t skip this ingredient. It really makes the drink snap. Now pour about four ounces of fresh tomato juice and stir. Keep stirring the drink as you add each ingredient. Now add 2 ounces of good gin. The red snapper is a treat for special occasions. Spend an extra dollar or two. Next crack fresh pepper, and add 1/4 a teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder or Tabasco sauce. Keep stirring and add a 1/2 teaspoon of ground mustard -sounds crazy, but trust me: it’s delicious! Add two ice cubes to a tall serving glass and pour the contents from the mixing glass. Squeeze a 1/4 lemon wedge over the top and garnish with a fresh stalk of celery, olive, and lemon wedge.  Perfect!

Experiment with varying amounts of each ingredient. Invite your friends to participate in mixing. Half the fun is in the making of this delicious cocktail. Options include an ounce of sherry or port wine, lime, various hot sauces, olive brine, and any tweak your imagination can engineer.

I suggest serving the red snapper with an ice cold glass of India Pale ale (IPA)

-Greg Tooke My short bio

“I am the cause and I am the cure.” ~Bloody Mary

Hangover Bloody Mary

Well now you did it. You went too far. You overindulged or, as I like to say, were “overserved.” The night’s revelry has come to roost behind your eyeballs. How can drinking a gallon of liquid leave one so thirsty? Your mouth feels like the floor of a taxi cab. That overwhelming feeling of dread. “God, did I really say that?” Yeah, you did it buddy. You bought yourself a stage 1 hangover. Hey, don’t look at me. That bloody Mary recipe I shared made ONE BLOODY MARY! I never told you to have seven!

The science behind what we call, “the hangover,” is very…scientific. This is not a science project my man. This is you feeling like crap. It’s your own fault. Now take responsibility. Before you go calling your attorney, let me share with you a little something I call, The Hangover Bloody Mary.

This little honey will ease the transition between drunk and sober. That foggy, shaky, achy, netherworld in which you wander before falling asleep on the couch in front of a football game. The hangover bloody Mary will ease the headache and lay you down on the couch like a baby.

Holding the walls on either side of you, ease into the kitchen in your boxers and open the freezer. Linger there. Feels good, doesn’t it?

Hangover Bloody Mary

Chew four Rolaids, snort two ground aspirin, and grab your cocktail shaker. Hold it still while you fill it with ice. Setting it on a level surface will reduce the shaking. Grab the coffee left in the pot from yesterday and splash 2 ounces of it over the ice. Just do it. Trust me. Light a cigarette and sprinkle a healthy amount of cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce. Yeah, you’re gonna sweat this out. Stop whining. Hit it with ground black pepper. Now the important part: Vodka. Or as the Russians and I call it, mother’s milk. Don’t go single harness here- let it flow. Top the the shaker with tomato juice or V-8 and shake that mother! Hold the frosty stainless steel purveyor of reparation against your skull and say, “thank you Greg.”

Pour the hangover bloody Mary into a large sturdy glass that won’t break when it slides off your chest and onto the hardwood floor later. Now squeeze fresh lime over the top and sprinkle celery salt.

Garnish your hangover bloody Mary with a sausage and egg McMuffin and back it up with an icy cold Miller Lite.

Now it’s time to set up that skydiving appointment. Remember the immortal words of Ernest Hemingway, our Bloody Mary Poppa. “Always do the crazy things you claim you’re going to do while drinking. If nothing else, it will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

Cheers!

-Greg

Bloody Caesar Clamato Bloody Mary Recipe

The Caesar or Bloody Mary recipe clamato style.  It’s a cocktail recipe created and primarily drank in Canada, though its popularity is growing in the U.S. Like the classic bloody Mary, It contains vodka and Clamato juice, (which is  blend of tomato juice and broth of clam).

I’d be doing my fine Canadian friends a great disservice if I neglected the Bloody Caesar recipe, or simply, the Caesar.  A variation of the traditional Bloody Mary Mix, the Caesar or Bloody Caesar cocktail calls for Clamato juice instead of tomato. I like to keep it fairly simple and very fresh. Here’s how to make the Caesar recipe cocktail:

For the very best cocktail, start with a shaker full of ice. Add a splash of Tabasco sauce, or your favorite hot sauce.  Next add a tablespoon of Worcestershire, then a dash of celery salt. Squeeze a large wedge of fresh lemon, now rub the lemon along the rim of the glass and  rim the glass with celery salt.

Bloody Mary Stickers

6 for $2 – We pay the shipping

Pour in a  few ounces of good vodka. Next fill the shaker with Clamato juice. Time to shake the bloody Caesar cocktail thoroughly and pour it into that celery salt anointed glass.

Finally, garnish the bloody Caesar with a fresh stalk of celery and lemon wedge. I like to grind a little more black pepper over the top. It smells great! My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

I hope you enjoy the Caesar as much as my friend to the north and I do. Caution: These go down quickly! Hail the bloody Caesar! Cheers.
-Greg Tooke My short bio

The Low Down on Bloody Mary Recipe V8

One of my favorite juices to use in my bloody Mary cocktails is V8. The V8 juice cocktail, as it is labeled, is a pretty nice blend of tomato, celery, carrot, and a few other juices. I’m a huge fan of the savory flavors in my recipes. If you read my blog, you know that I love to infuse my vodkas with all manner of vegetables. (onion, jalapeño pepper, celery, garlic…you name it!) If you don’t have the time, or don’t want to take the time, to infuse your booze, V8 offers a pretty good alternative. The beauty lies in its convenience. So let me share with you my favorite bloody Mary recipe V8 style…

Bloody Mary Recipe V8 Basics:

One of my chief concerns when I try to create the best bloody Mary recipe is salt. I love salt. I do. But too much of it can, and SO often does, ruin a bloody Mary. Most tomato juices, and V8 offer a low sodium option. Whenever possible, I reach for those. Do I like a low sodium bloody Mary? Not really, but think about it: Worcestershire, celery salt, tabasco, pickles, olives, tomato juice- ALL pretty high sodium, right? So, one place to take control of the salt level is in the juice. Play with it. Experiment. Lea and Perrins also offers a low sodium version of their sauce. Another option to control the salt in your bloody Mary recipe is to actually grind your own celery seed, or infuse. But we’re trying to keep it simple here. So I recommend the low sodium for this bloody Mary recipe V8.

Let’s get it started!

Bloody Mary Recipe V8 – Get on with it!

Makes one pint of V8 bloody Mary

V8 bloody Mary Mix

By Greg Tooke
Published:
October 12, 2010
For more spice, add an extra dash of cayenne pepper.

Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: .1 min
Total time: 2.5 min
Yield: 1 large cocktail

Serving size: 1 16 oz glass
Calories per serving: 95
Fat per serving: 0g

Ingredients:

Low Sodium V8 juice:
6 ounces

vodka:
2 ounces

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce:
1 TBSP

Fresh squeezed Lime juice:
1 TBSP

low sodium Celery salt:
1/4 tsp

ground Cayenne pepper:
1/4 tsp

…

Directions:

1. Fill a pint glass with ice. Grind fresh black pepper over ice.
2. Roll until thoroughly mixed and chilled.
3. Pour into large glass
4. Garnish with celery stalk, pickle, beef stick, and whatever else sounds good!
…

–
If you don’t have the time or energy to make a bloody Mary from scratch, we recommend Demitri’s bloody Mary mixes- top notch: All natural, nice balance of spices, and mixes very well with V-8.

Cheers! -Greg Tooke My short bio

Papa’s got a brand new mix!

Ernest Hemingway Bloody Mary Recipe -Where it all began

The Ernest Hemingway bloody Mary mix is a cocktail classic. It was my first real experience with crafting a better bloody Mary recipe. It’s not that I hadn’t had plenty of Bloody Mary recipes. I had. The fact is, I had never really put too much thought into what makes a perfect bloody Mary.

Ernest Hemingway broke down the essential elements of the bloody Mary.  The way he mixed the drink reflected the way he lived- LARGE! rather than get overly creative with ingredients like pickle juice, tiger sauce, port wine, or whatever the flavor of the month is, Hemingway kept it simple.  Like his writing style, the Ernest Hemingway bloody Mary recipe is lean and athletic.

Ernest Hemingway, in my view,  personified the spirit of this website. By prescribing no amount less than a pitcher, he made a statement.

Hemingway Bloody Mary Recipe
Recipe:
To a large pitcher (anything smaller is “worthless”) add:
1 chunk of ice (the biggest that will fit)
1 pint of vodka
1 pint chilled tomato juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 jigger fresh lime juice
Pinch celery salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch black pepper
Several drops of Tabasco

“Keep on stirring and taste it to see how it is doing. If you gets it too powerful weaken with more tomato juice. If it lacks authority add more vodka.”

From a letter to Bernard Peyton signed
April 5, 1947 by Ernest Hemingway

-Greg Tooke My short bio

 Horseradish Bloody Mary Recipe 

Bloody Mary recipes: They have come a long way since their inception in a hip nightclub in New York City in the early twentieth century. Those first bloody Mary’s, as well as most made in my kitchen, were crafted from scratch-one at a time. As I see it, there are three levels of bloody Mary mix recipe. Strive for level one whenever possible!

Scroll down for the perfect bloody Mary recipe, horseradish makes the difference!

 Level One-Home made from the ground up

The very best bloody Mary is mixed on an individual level, from scratch. That’s art! start with a good bloody Mary recipe. Gathering fresh ingredients from a local market, hand selecting the amounts, blending to individual tastes, making adjustments…That’s the highest level of creation of a bloody Mary mix. I’m a huge fan of infusing vodkas with fresh ingredients like celery, onions, peppers, garlic, cucumbers, horseradish root- the sky is the limit! There is such an intimacy to talking to a friend or customer about what they like and do not like in a bloody Mary mix. Like any good relationship, communication is the key!

Level Two – Making a Batch
Ok, so it’s not always practical to mix a bloody Mary recipe from scratch, one at a time. If you run a bar or are entertaining large numbers- or maybe you’re travelling to a football game. Sometimes we need to make up a bloody Mary mix in advance.

Be Careful! The acids in tomato juice and citrus fruits will break down your bloody Mary seasonings and horseradish. Wait as long as you can to mix your ingredients. Once you have mixed them, keep your bloody Mary mix cold. Proper refrigeration will slow the degradation on the various flavors that make this cocktail so savory and delicious.
I’m usually not a big fan of measuring devices when it comes to mixing a bloody. When it comes to making a larger batch however, I recommend exercising more precision. We’re all counting on you- Get it right!

Level Three – Commercial pre-mix

A nuclear holocaust? A late night spontaneous decision AFTER all stores but kwik marts are closed? Maybe you are just plain lazy. Sometimes, not too often, you need a commercially produced bloody Mary mix. Here’s the deal: When ingredients are mixed together for sale and use months in the future, preservatives are needed. Read the label. Zing Zang is probably the best of these worst choices. Most are VERY high in salt and contain ingredients no one would stock in their kitchen. It also lacks horseradish  That speaks volumes. Here’s a little known alternative that, you may have noticed, I endorse: Demitri’s Bloody Mary Mix. Demitri wisely avoids mixing the ingredients with tomato juice. This way, heavy preservatives are not needed. I don’t want to sound like a commercial but, these mixes are really good! I use them all the time! Check them out.

Horseradish Bloody Mary Recipe

Ingredients:

• 6 oz Sacramento tomato juice
• 2 oz Sobieske vodka
• Large lemon wedge
• Dollop of prepared horseradish
• 1 Tbsp Franks Red Hot pepper sauce
• 1 Tbsp Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Fill a large glass with ice. Squeeze the juice of lemon juice over ice. Add remaining ingredients. Pour back and forth between glass and cocktail shaker to mix thoroughly and chill.

Serve with a cold beer chaser and garnish of your choice.

Cheers!
–Greg Tooke My short bio