Bloody Mary Variations - Meet the Whole Family

The Bloody Mary is a famous hangover cure and its blend of electrolytes, vitamins and water is genuinely a great blend of restoratives - so if you’re needing hair of the dog, Bloody Mary is your girl.

Bloody Mary

Ingredients

Scoop of ice

100ml vodka

500ml tomato juice or Bloody Mary Soda

1 tbsp lemon or lime juice

Lemon or lime wedge

Worcestershire sauce

Tabasco or hot sauce of your choice

Celery salt

Black pepper

Celery stalks

Method

• Tip celery salt onto a small plate
• Rub lemon or lime wedge around the top of a pint glass and dip it in the salt
• Half fill the glass with ice
• Pour lemon or lime juice, vodka, tomato juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire, black pepper, and a pinch of celery salt into a shaker with ice and shake gently
• Strain into the prepared glass and garnish with celery stalks and citrus wedge.

However, Bloody Mary is just one member of a large family and summer is the perfect time to meet some of them!

Our Top Bloody Mary Variations

Now we know the big sister, let's meet the rest of the Bloody Mary Cocktail family. These are a great way to switch up your brunch cocktail and can put a twist on the old classic tomato juice and vodka.

Bloody Maria

As above, but using tequila instead of vodka which really amps up the flavours. Our Bloody Mary Soda is the ideal mixer for a Bloody Maria as it plays perfectly with tequila.

Bloody Derby

More than just a Bloody Mary, classically made with bourbon, this cocktail celebrates the Kentucky Derby rather than the Epsom one.

Bloody Pirate

Use dark spiced rum in place of the vodka and up the ante on your garnish with blood orange slices, marinated jalepeño peppers or striped beetroot to play up the dark theme.

Michelada

The name is disputed, although the recipe isn’t. Either Chela” is Mexican slang for lager (girls are also called Chela if they are blonde, as it relates to colour) so it means Michel’s beer, or it’s a blend of mi (my), chela (beer), and helada (frosty). Either way it’s a long, cold glass of deliciousness.

Ingredients

Tomato juice

Lime juice

Lime wedge

Worcestershire sauce

Soy sauce

Tabasco or other hot sauce

Mexican lager

Salt

Chilli powder

Black pepper

Ice

Method

Stir together salt, chilli powder and black pepper on a plate, rub the rim of a pint glass with the lime wedge and a dip rim in mixture. Add ice, the juice of half a lime, two shakes of each sauce, tomato juice and top up with Mexican lager. Go wild with garnish: lime, celery, cucumber, pickles, olives … even tiny slices of pizza can be used to decorate this most OTT of drinks.

The History of the Bloody Mary

The Classic Bloody Mary was thought to have originated from the early 1920's with Fernand Petiot at Harry's New York Bar in Paris. However, we now know it is likely that he simply spiced up a well established drink containing vodka and tomato juice.

The true creator of the Bloody Mary mix is more likely to be George Jessel who was a Hollywood star from the 1920s to the 1950s. Although there are many stories and legends behind the cocktail, the true first creator of the cocktail is most likely lost to history.

Want to learn more about the history of the Bloody Mary? Find out more information on the silver circles website.