A weekend morning brunch staple. The original cure for the hangover. As one cartoon super spy would say: Bloody Mary, full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails. The Bloody Mary has been a long time favorite of mine. I would try new Bloody mixes when the mood struck, and found some I really loved. (Looking at your The Real Dill.)
The logical next step for me was to try and make a bloody “from scratch.” I put that in quotations because I used premade hot sauce, bottled lime juice (although I usually do prefer squeezing a fresh lime) and I have no idea how to make a good thick tomato juice from a freshly picked tomato. However, attempting this gave me a whole new level of control on the flavor profile.
For my first ever from scratch bloody, I tried to keep it relatively simple, and I’ll include my process here. Be warned, I did not completely measure everything accurately, as I usually like to gauge and adjust on the fly. It’s not professional, but I find it much more fun this way. Without further ado, my recipe!
From Scratch Bloody Mary
Ingredients:
- Colorado Vodka (Technically, any vodka will do. But let’s be honest, it’s going to be some much better when it’s Colorado made.) We used Spring 44, which is clean, crisp, and perfect for this cocktail.
- Tomato juice, or vegetable juice. Thicker juice is preferable.
- Garlic powder
- Celery Salt
- Sea Salt
- Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Horseradish
- Lime Juice
- Hot pepper sauce (For this recipe, I used a new favorite of mine that has Carolina Reapers and Black Garlic from Bravado Spice CO. )
- Celery Stalk for Garnish
Grab your shaker. Start with a little bit of ice, I used about 5 smaller cubes, and pour in the tomato juice. Fill it up about halfway. Next, add in a few shakes of garlic powder, a few shakes of celery salt, grind in a bit of sea salt and crack some pepper in. Add in a little bit, not a lot, of horseradish, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and some drops of the hot sauce. The hot sauce part is really up to you. I like spicy bloodys, but even this sauce kicks my butt so I was pretty conservative with it. Add in a little lime juice, top that off with the vodka, close the shaker, and shake it up nice and good. Those ice cubes will help mix everything together really well. Next step, take a small sip, see where you are at. Adjust as you need. My personal favorite thing about doing this is I’m not always in exactly the same mood for flavors. This way, if I want more spice I can pour in more hot sauce.
This next part is the most important step. Find some flavors you like, and add them in. With premixed Bloody Marys I will add in liquid smoke, or maybe a bit more garlic, maybe even roasted garlic. Maybe some roasted chili peppers. A little of dill pickle juice. Whatever sounds good, whatever you like, you add, and you make it a unique cocktail that you design.
Now grab a glass, put in a stalk of celery, add some ice to the glass, and pour your concoction over the top. Then sip and enjoy. Halfway through, you’ll figure out another thing you want to add (I almost always do when I make anything. Soups, cocktails, dinners. When I cook, after it’s done I think “This would have been perfect if I added ____.”) and then you jot that down and next time, add it in.
For me, the best part of a bloody mary is the fact that it never has to be the same. There can be so much added, changed, and switched around, that you are sure to discover something new you love about it. Let us know in the comments below, what are your favorite bloody flavor profiles. How do you most enjoy that age old hangover cure?
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