Cocktail Masterclass- how to make a great Bloody Mary

The consummate BLOODY MARY- as crafted by leading Japanese mixologist Manabu Ohtake- Diageo World Class Global Bartender of the Year 2011

September 30th, 2012

The Bloody Mary enjoys a unique status- a cocktail that is most frequently consumed as a hangover cure. A mainstay of the classic Sunday Brunch, the restorative powers of the Bloody Mary are legendary. Combining the core ingredients of tomato juice, vodka, and lemon/lime juice with additional seasonings of salts and spices to give the drink its extra punch, the result is a healthy concoction that stimulates and excites the palate with almost the complete range of human taste sensations- sweet, spicy, salty, etc. There is no fixed recipe for the seasonings added to the core Bloody Mary mix- commonly used options include Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper sauce, horseradish, black pepper and celery salt. This flexibility with ingredients has given rise to much creativity in the mixture of seasonings, with countless “personal favourite” recipes claiming to be the perfect Bloody Mary.

The origin of the Bloody Mary is commonly credited to what was called at the time a “Red Snapper”- first created at Harry’s Bar in Paris in the 1920’s. The original Red Snapper used gin rather than vodka as the neutral spirit, and is was after the cocktail gained popularity in the USA that vodka was substituted and the cocktail named as Bloody Mary.

HOW TO MAKE THE CONSUMMATE BLOODY MARY

First steps- add the vodka and celery- and blend. Then strain into the mixing glass.

Add the tomato juice to one half of the shaker; blended contents to the other half; and pour and roll between both shakers to mix the ingredients.