Bloody Mary

For some cocktails, I believe in sticking to the real tried-and-true recipe. As close to the original as possible. You can alter some proportions to suit your taste, but too many tweaks and it's not the same drink anymore.

The Bloody Mary is not one of those cocktails. The Bloody Mary is a do-it-yourself, be-as-creative-as-possible sort of cocktail. There's a basic formula, of course: vodka, tomato juice, horseradish, hot sauce, celery salt, and pepper. But from there, anything goes. Pickle juice? Sure! Smoked paprika? Yum. Cajun seasoning? Absolutely. Swap the vodka for tequila. Heck, I'm not even sure tomato juice is absolutely necessary. Even there you can use V-8 or Clamato for a different taste, or blended tomatillos for a Verde Mary (arguably a different cocktail, but let's not get too technical; that's not what the Bloody Mary is about).

And don't even get me started on garnishes. The Bloody Mary has brought garnishes to a whole new level. Bars use everything from a lone celery stick to an entire five-course meal (I'm not even kidding). It's a great cocktail to just have fun with. Bloody Mary bars where guests can build their own just the way they want are perfect for brunches.

I actually thought I didn't really like Bloody Marys, but then I realized it was because I'd never had a really good one, or at least one made to my taste. They've all been too one-note (tomato juice + booze) or way too spicy. But I thought the ones I made at home were fabulous. Knowing what I like, I stuck to lots of flavor and not too much spice. It was like a delicious, alcoholic meal in a glass.

I kept to the standard formula for the most part. Lacking celery salt, I used ground celery seed. I also added Tony Chachere's, because everything is better with some Tony's. For garnishes, I used to celery, a cucumber spear (I would have preferred a pickle, but I didn't have any), olives, lemon, and a couple of sprigs of cilantro. But I have nothing against an elaborate Bloody Mary garnish. Ideally I'd add a shrimp or two - yum. Now that I know it's a cocktail I like, I look forward to trying a lot of different things. I recommend this post at FoodieCrush for some suggestions, and a great guide for making a Bloody Mary bar for guests.

History: The most commonly told story of the Bloody Mary's origin is that it was invented by Fernand "Pete" Petiot at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in 1921. After Prohibition ended, Petiot moved to New York to run the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Hotel, where he added more ingredients to the cocktail and re-christened it the Red Snapper.

But, as I've found with many cocktails, the most popular story is not quite correct. If you're really interested, this four-part article by Jack McGarry picks apart every aspect of the Bloody Mary's history. To quickly summarize, McGarry believes that it was not Petiot who invented the cocktail, but a Vaudeville star named George Jessel. In his autobiography, Jessel claims to have been in Palm Beach nursing a hangover when a bartender gave him his first taste of vodka. "I looked at it, sniffed it," he writes. "It was pretty pungent and smelled like rotten potatoes. 'Hell, what do we have to lose? Get me some Worcestershire sauce, tomato juice, and lemon; that ought to kill the smell,' I commanded Charlie."

Jessel and his friends found that the concoction settled their stomachs. When a Philadelphia socialite named Mary Brown Warburton entered the bar, still in her white evening gown from the night before, they offered her a sip. She spilled some on the front of her dress and said "Now you can call me Bloody Mary!"

The drink spread from there, and is mentioned in a number of publications, but often as half tomato juice, half vodka, with no mention of the other ingredients. Pete Petiot was the one who really started embellishing it at the King Cole Bar (where you can still order a Red Snapper today). Petiot even said in an interview that Jessel may have come up with the idea of tomato juice and vodka, but he was the one who turned it into the cocktail it is today.

And will it actually cure a hangover? Maybe along with a few ibuprofen and a lot of water. I'll have to try it to find out.

Bloody Mary

1 1/2 oz. vodka
6 oz. tomato juice
5 drops Tabasco
3 drops Worcestershire sauce
1 pinch horseradish
1 pinch celery salt or ground celery seed
1 pinch Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 dash lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a tall glass and stir well. Add ice. Garnish with celery, olives, lemon, pickles... whatever.

Recipe adapted from Liquor.com.