Bloody Mary mix

Ingredients What you need:

Loads of ice (see, I told you)

Lots of tomato juice

Good vodka (40% please)

Good rock salt ( I recommend Blackthorn salt of Ayr)

The rest depends on your own tastes so use this as a guide to your perfect drink then mess with it all you want. One thing about Bloody Marys is they are very personal, work differently at different times of the day and recipes are tweaked depending on the occasion. But this one is a top drawer all-rounder and it’s delicious.

The original:

50ml Ketel One vodka

100ml tomato juice

40ml passata

20 ml fresh lemon juice 12 dashes Worcester sauce

5 dashes Tabasco

10 ml grated horseradish

Good couple of turns on the black pepper mill

Pinch of rock salt

Pinch of ground cumin

Pinch of celery salt

Pinch of onion powder

Pinch of smoked paprika

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Pinch of chilli flakes 5ml Frank’s buffalo sauce

1 This is a very simple drink to make but it’s all in the technique. If you have a Bostonstyle cocktail shaker then great, if not two pint glasses or jugs will do.

2 Place all your ingredients except the ice into one of the glasses, and then “throw” it into the other glass.

3 This is a bartender technique and isn’t really throwing but pouring from one glass into the other, starting low and lifting the glass higher as you pour. Basically you are adding air to the mixture.

4 It’s good fun and takes a few minutes to get the hang of but basically it will thicken your drink and give it a great texture. This elevates it above the everyday tomato juice mixed with vodka mouthfeel and the added passata thickens it.

5 If you want it even thicker, add a little tomato paste to the mix to suit your own tastes. Anyway, back to throwing. Do this back and forth pouring for at least 45 seconds but I usually do it for twice that time.

6 Once you’ve mixed your drink, taste it so that it’s got the right zing for you and is to your liking. Once you’ve given it your own seal of approval, simply pour into a tall glass filled with ice.

7 Now the fun really begins with the garnish. You can choose anything from olives to crispy bacon and on to the dark side of fresh oysters and mini cheese burgers. 8 If you think of your garnish as a little accompaniment to each sip then there’s a few classic

garnishes that should always be included.

9 One is the original stick of celery and/or a long spear of cucumber. Then with a wooden skewer, you can layer together a large gordal olive, a mini pickled onion, slice of pickle or cornichon and my absolute favourite – a Spanish guindilla picked pepper.

10 So sit back, savour every sip and remember how you woke up saying that you’d never drink again... then look at your Bloody Mary – you’re welcome.