I’ve been dying to write this post, and today we finally had a brunch with friends that involved making Bloody Marys!  In addition to being a pleasant addition to any weekend brunch, they are (should be) a staple during the house-parties that inevitably occur around the holidays.  If you leave Santa cookies and milk, maybe, just maybe, he’ll leave you a fresh batch of Bloody Marys…

Bloody Marys are the undisputed heavyweight in the daytime/brunch drink arena (sure, mimosas and champagne are typically present, but they aren’t as thick and strong tasting).  The problem with Bloody Marys is that many of them are very bad.  In fact, I can’t figure out why they haven’t faced a general ban resulting from the all-too frequent rail vodka poured into pre-made mix by a hungover waiter who is filling in as a bartender.  I get sort of worked up about how bad many Bloody Marys can be, because when they are well-made, they are really, shockingly, amazingly uplifting.

There are a few ground rules to making uplifting Bloody Marys:

1.  The critical ingredient in Bloody Mary preparation is coffee.  Do not attempt to make any brunch drinks without a cup of coffee helping you out.  In addition to increased alertness around the Cuisinart blades (crucial to not cutting your fingers off), many people will drink coffee around the same time that they drink the Bloody Mary you are making.  It is important that you season the drink to play well with coffee.

2.  The most important ingredient to the drink itself is fresh tomatoes.  Do not use canned juice.  Do not use something from a jug.  The only tomato in the thing should be the kind you buy whole.  Any tomato will work, but I believe campari tomatoes are best.  If campari are unavailable, go for grape or cherry.  The idea is to use a sweet tomato.

3.  Never, ever use vodka, unless something interesting and complementary is infused into it.  I learned this the first time I had a Bloody Mary that I really loved.  The bartender at Fortnum & Mason offered to make my drink with gin.  Liking gin, I agreed.  I have never looked back.  Always order your Bloody Marys with gin; you will have a more enjoyable drink even if you don’t usually drink gin.

Making the Drink

coffee, horseradish, Tabasco, lime, spicy pickles, celery salt, tomatoes, garlic salt, salt, Worcestershire Sauce, black pepper, more tomatoes

Unlike most things I post, this one has a lot of ingredients.  There is also substantial flexibility as to which ingredients one does or does not include.  You can vary it to suit your taste, or simply because you don’t happen to have something – totally fine.  Whatever substitutions you make, remember a few things:

1. Salt (lots) is a must! Raw tomato juice is horrible without salt.  If you remove a salty ingredient, replace the salt.
2. Spice is a must!  It doesn’t need to be killer, but it needs a little bite.
3. Citrus is good.  Tangy-ness really helps cut the mouthfeel of the drink and actually reduces the salt needed.

All that said, the recipe below will make about 1.5 liters of Virgin Mary (i.e., Bloody Mary mix).  If you combine that with about 0.5 liters of liquor, you’ll have at least 10-12 servings.

Today, our friends hosted and cooked; I brought the Bloody Mary’s in my trusty Tupperware pitcher.  They travel well.

Ingredients

4 pints tomatoes (seeded)

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons spicy pickle juice (whatever you can find, but McClure’s pickles, available at the Brooklyn Larder, rock!)

2.5 teaspoons horseradish

1 teaspoon Tabasco

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

lots of salt (keep tasting and adding)

lots of coarse ground black pepper (keep tasting and grinding)

garlic salt

celery salt

First, seed the tomatoes.  This isn’t an absolute necessity, but the seeds are bitter and make the drink less pleasant to consume.  Not every seed has to be out, mind you.  My method is to cut all the tomatoes in half (width-wise) and then just squeeze the seeds out.  Basically, you just squish each tomato half and they pop out.

cut the tomatoes width-wise, as shown

Put all the tomatoes and other ingredients in a food processor or mixer (food processor will work best if you have one).  I throw in ingredients as I get tomatoes seeded.  This method allows me to taste as I go.

Fill a glass (tumbler or tall) with ice, add the liquor of your choosing – again, gin is the best go-to, but I used dill-infused vodka today (thanks to Sherry for this fabulous idea).  Pour in the mix you just created and garnish with olives, celery, and/or anything pickled.

Enjoy - the day is still young.