How to make a perfect bloody mary (a bartender’s secret recipe)

Do you love a good bloody mary as much as I do? A well balanced bloody mary at Sunday brunch with your friends is hard to beat! I’m going to let you in on my secret recipe, so you can have that same great tasting experience at home.

Start with your vodka of choice. A good bloody mary really packs a a lot of flavor, so the flavor of the vodka itself wont come through very strongly. That being said, there is no need for an expensive top-shelf vodka. However, cheap bottom-shelf liquor has the potential to ruin just about any drink! My suggestion is to stick with a mid-shelf, good quality vodka.

Next you will need some tomato juice, any brand is fine! (Bonus points: use Clamato juice instead of tomato to create a “bloody caesar!” – I personally prefer a bloody ceasar over a bloody mary. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend you do!)

You’ll also need some Dimitri’s seasoning, this seasoning is a favorite among many bartenders. In fact, if you just used vodka, tomato juice and Dimitri’s alone, you’d end up with a pretty decent bloody mary. However, for my perfect bloody mary recipe you’ll need a few more ingredients to spice things up! These extra flavors will really take your drink to the next level. The full recipe is listed below.

Perfect Bloody Mary

You’ll Need

  • Pint Glass filled with Ice (feel free to salt the rim if you’d like!)
  • 1.5 oz Vodka of choice
  • ~4 oz Tomato juice 
  • 1 oz Dimitri’s seasoning 
  • 0.5 oz Pepperoncini juice 
  • 3 Dashes worcestershire
  • Juice of a quarter of a lime
  • Sprinkle of celery salt
  • 3 Dashes of your favorite hot sauce (optional – if you like things spicy!)

Fun Topping Ideas: pickled asparagus, pepperoncini, green olives, pickled pearl onion, cheese cubes, sliced jalapenos, celery sticks… you get the idea!

Instructions

  1. Salt the rim of your glass (optional)
  2. Fill with ice.
  3. Add the vodka
  4. Squeeze the juice from one quarter of a lime
  5. Add Dimitri’s seasoning
  6. Add pepperoncini juice
  7. Add 3 dashes of Worcestershire
  8. Add 3 dashes of hot sauce (optional)
  9. Sprinkle a shake of celery salt into the glass
  10. Fill the remaining space in the glass with tomato juice (or clamato juice!)
  11. Stir with a long spoon until the ingredients are visibly thoroughly mixed.
  12. Top with your garnishes of choice and enjoy!

Let me know how it goes! What fancy toppings did you add? Email me at hi@beccathehungrynomad.com. I’d love to hear from you.