Bloody Mary's!! (OT)

butert

As of late I have been drinking bloody mary's.  I had one at a friends house last weekend and he infused the vodka with basil, it was the best bloody mary i've ever had.

Anybody else have some different yet good bloody mary recipes?

RRP

I really love Bloody Bulls! I use Mr & Mrs T's mix, add vodka and celery salt plus some of my au jus. Here's that recipe:

RRP's Au Jus Recipe 

This began as a basic recipe off internet which I tweaked many many times so it's mine!

1  14 oz Swanson Beef Broth (box – not the can)
1  10-1/2 ounce can of Campbell's French Onion soup
½  of the soup can cold water
1  Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1   teaspoon of garlic salt
2   Wyler’s brand beef bouillon cubes

Bring ingredients to a boil in saucepan, letting it boil for 1 minute then
strain and discard onions.  Serve au jus dipping sauce hot. Can be made 2
days ahead.  Makes 3 cups.  BTW I also make a batch of this and then pour

 it in large ice cube trays. Two melted cubes make a wonderful Bloody Bull!

damnedhooligan

Inspired by a bar in Los Angeles:
2 oz vodka
3 oz spicy or regular V8
1 dash lemon juice
1 dash lime juice
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 - 3 drops Tabasco® sauce
1 pinch horseradish
1 pinch mustard (Guldens, Dijon if you’re fancy)
1tsp olive juice
pinch of pepper
pinch of celery salt
kabob of 2 lime slices, 2 cocktail olives, 2 lemon slices and most important 2 pickled green beans

fishlessman

i never follow a recipe but always have tomao juice, clam juice, worcester, horseraddish, black pepper, celerysalt, stick of celery,tobasco, and sometimes boiled shrimp hanging on top, greenolives

Legume

the two biggest factors I've found that impact quality are

• throw away the horseradish in your fridge and buy a fresh jar (not horseradish sauce).  the brands in the refrigerated deli section are usually more potent - flavor, not just heat.  add a healthy amount, but to your taste
• same thing for bloody mary mix, it doesn't seem to age well

other things that I do that suit my taste

• plenty of pickled veg - okra, green beans and onions work really well
• celery salt and ground black pepper mixed in and also just a little float of each

KiterTodd

I used to mix up my own bloody marys (a few secrets being very finely chopped onions, ground cardemon, fresh ground pepper, lots of ice and lots of lemon/lime) but I found that they were not worth the effort once I found a mix I liked.  Problem was, as soon as you made a nice bloody mary someone else would want one, and about that time you were done with yours, so it was time to make another... and it became this assembly line where the process was a lot longer than it took to enjoy the cocktail!

ZingZang bloody mary mix is all I need these days.  Has everything I would want in a bloody and is great right out of the bottle.  I have not found its equal in higher end or mass produced mixes.  So I've stopped looking. 

JRWhitee

+1 on Zing Zang

damnedhooligan

@KiterTodd, all you need to do is add vokda and pickled veggies with ZingZang??? What about lime, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce or horseradish?

Griffin

We use zinging, but I still add the stuff @damnedhooligan mentioned. And a few drops of hot sauce. Top it off with some shrimp like a shrimp cocktail, some pickled veggies and you got yourself an appetizer and a drink.

fishlessman

KiterTodd said:

I used to mix up my own bloody marys (a few secrets being very finely chopped onions, ground cardemon, fresh ground pepper, lots of ice and lots of lemon/lime) but I found that they were not worth the effort once I found a mix I liked.  Problem was, as soon as you made a nice bloody mary someone else would want one, and about that time you were done with yours, so it was time to make another... and it became this assembly line where the process was a lot longer than it took to enjoy the cocktail!

ZingZang bloody mary mix is all I need these days.  Has everything I would want in a bloody and is great right out of the bottle.  I have not found its equal in higher end or mass produced mixes.  So I've stopped looking. 

you make pitchers of bloody marys, never one at a time
) making one defeats the whole purpose of sitting back and enjoying the morning. make a pitcher and leave the hotsauce out to the side

Legume

Agree with ZingZang, also use Mr/Mrs T depending on what's available.  Also agree with Griffin, we still doctor it, at a minimum we add lime, worcestershire, pepper, tabasco, celery salt and horseradish.  It's never easy, always an event and yes, agree with KiterTodd that everyone wants on so we just line up the red cups from the beginning.  Ice goes in last for us, so if we over-make, we just hold on the ice and they become part of round 2.

Too many local small brand bloody mary mixes in my opinion that suck.

damnedhooligan

Not sure if anyone has seen this blog/site before about Bloody Marys. They have some cool recipes   http://www.drunkentomato.com/

Dillonjm

I am also a big fan of ZingZang mix. It's definitely one of the better ones out there. I also use Bay Vodka for our Bloody Mary's. Vodka infused with Chesapeake Bay seasoning. I also make some crispy bacon and put it in the drink with some celery.

Bay Vodka
ZingZang Mix
Dash or two of Old Bay Seasoning
Some crispy bacon
celery
Add whatever your heart desires to taste

ksmyrl

OJ, tequila, grenadine! Garnish w an orange slice. Wait...that's a tequila sunrise, my morning drink.

McStew

My go to

Bacon Bloody Mary

• 1 ½ ounces vodka
• 4 ounces tomato juice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1-2 dashes of hot sauce
• Juice of half a lemon
• ½ teaspoon dried ground horseradish
• 1 or 2 slices of cooked bacon
• 1 celery stalk
• A sprinkle of seasoned salt and fresh ground black pepper

Rim a cocktail glass with the seasoned salt and ground black pepper. Add bacon to the glass, fill halfway with ice and pour vodka over it. Allow to sit for a few minutes so the flavors absorb. In a cocktail shaker, combine the remaining ingredients, shake well, then pour into the cocktail glass. Garnish with a stalk of celery. For the non-alcoholic version, simply remove the vodka and follow the rest of the recipe

KiterTodd

damnedhooligan said:

@KiterTodd, all you need to do is add vokda and pickled veggies with ZingZang??? What about lime, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce or horseradish?

It doesn't need anything.
I'll throw something in for garnish and fun (stalk of c, pickled string bean, whatever) and an extra wedge of lemon or lime just because I like it.  But honestly, it is good to go as-is for me!

If you like them particularly hot you could add hot sauce, but for me bloody's are more about flavor than heat.  You add some Old Bay on the ring and guests will assume the entire thing is home made.  And since I like them with a lot of citrus, ZingZang is good because it has more lime than most.

I figure, if a mix requires too much doctoring, it's not the right mix.  Keep looking!


fishlessman, that's good logic. Make a pitcher.

Wolfpack

+1 zing zang is the best commercially available mix if you like "thicker" bloody Mary's. My in-laws tend to like red colored vodka so thin you can almost see through it- so they use 1/3 zing zang and a bunch of water. To each their own.

poster

almost a bloody mary but look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_(cocktail). Honestly if you can find Clamato in your area try it, or just a spoonful of clam broth with your regular mix if that's easier to find. Don't forget to rim with celery salt as well. As for true bloody mary mixes I really like Ditkas Bloody mike mix. I've found it in places other than Chicago, its really thick and makes for a good breakfast drink.

EgginATL42

Another +1 on the ZingZang. Although, my bartender had me try a different brand that was even better than ZingZang, but the next time I went in they were out and she couldn't remember the brand.

NDG

We love bloody buddies . . . STIRRINGS bloody mix is good but STIRRINGS simple Margarita mix (real lime juice) is amazing.

 

NDG

making bloodys today and found nice write-up from serious eats that reviews many brands.  Turns out my recomendation (stirrings) was the only negative review - opps!

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/06/best-bloody-mary-mix-taste-test-mcclures-ripe-daves-gourmet-zing-zang-hoosier-mama.html

EgginATL42

Made one this afternoon with the ZingZang and Anchor Bar suicide sauce that are in he chili that is simmering right now.

KiterTodd

EgginATL42, funny you should mention that.   I have a friend that makes great chili and one of her secrets is she dumps in a 1/2 bottle of ZingZang!   It is good chili...

Hey, tomorrow morning is Sunday.   Now that's a good day for a Bloody Mary.  I think I will have one.

RRP

I found ZingZang locally in spite of no reply from their website for three days. I will finish off an open bottle of M/M T's in the refrig tomorrow using it for our favorite Bloody Bulls as I mentioned before. The one recent comment about it being sweet tasting bothers me, but I hope my au jus preference will tone that aspect down. I like variety in taste for some things, but consistency that I know I can dial back in when I want to is even more important and reassuring!

KiterTodd

RRP, I hope you like the ZingZang.  I do not find it to be sweet and found that odd when I read it in those reviews.  I had a Bloody at a restaurant today and their mix was awful it was so sweet.   But, they did rim the glass with bacon salt so I took one for the team and got through the cocktail. 

I like a mix with good flavor and a solid lemon/lime citrus and for me ZZ fills the bill.  But, if we put it on too high of a pedestal, it is sure to fail, so just go into it knowing that it is complete crap and you just wasted 5 bucks!