Bloody Marys are well known as a brunch cocktail, probably due to their incredible hangover-curing powers.
The tomato-vodka drink was first brought to King Cole Bar at the St. Régis Hotel in New York from an American Bar in Paris in the 1930’s. The drink was a child of the prohibition era and the Russian revolution, Americans keen for booze when on holiday in France, and Russian vodka flowing from escapees of the east.
With stories of Hemingway's appreciation of the cocktail, then called a Red Snapper, it became a New York classic.
King Cole generously shares their Red Snapper recipe via Esquire, for all to feel like Hemingway at home.
The Red Snapper Original Recipe:
• 30mL Stolichnaya vodka (A pint of black peppercorns was steeped in vodka for six weeks to create a mixture called "liquid black pepper", a dash of which gave the vodka itself a real blast of flavour)
• 60mL Tomato juice
• 1 dash lemon juice
• 2 dashes salt
• 2 dashes black pepper
• 2 dashes cayenne pepper
• 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Stir all ingredients together in a pitcher with a hunk of ice, pour into a pint glass, and garnish with a lemon wedge and celery stalk.
There are claims from many sides as to who came up with the name Bloody Mary in the end, some pointing to the bloody habits of Mary Tudor who persecuted Protestants in the 1500’s.
But its evolution within the States is an interesting one, each region bringing it’s own flavour.
This blog by The Fresh Exchange details three different styles of Bloody Marys as curated by McClure’s Pickles. It’s all about the garnishes. Note, cilantro means coriander leaves!
McClure’s makes a set-it-and-forget-it style Bloody Mary Mix that takes out all of the fidgeting. Shop it here.
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