Bloody mary COCKTAILS go extreme
Beyond the classic Old Bay spice rim and celery rib garnish, try new embellishments — bacon, togarashi, dilly beans and more
There’s no question that the bloody mary is the current queen of Bay Area cocktails, whether we’re talking brunch sip, tailgate drink or New Year’s Day tradition. But what’s new in the world of merry mary mixology — whether at home or in your favorite bar — is how we’re dressing this classic tomato-based beauty. You might want to set aside that wimpy celery rib.
“The rim is the first thing you taste,” says East Coast cocktail and food writer Ellen Brown. “It sets the scene.”
These “accessories” — the modern spice rims and garnishes that adorn the glass — are not only personal and customizable, Brown says, but they can be themed to match the flavor profile you’re building in the cocktail.
Classic? Nothing rims a glass better than salt or Old Bay seasoning. Going Michelada style? Try Tajin, the zingy Mexican seasoning made with dehydrated lime juice and ground chiles. Truth is, you can find excellent rims in the supermarket spice aisle or make one with ingredients you already have.
In her latest volume, “The Bloody Mary Book: Reinventing a Classic Cocktail” (Running Press, $18), Brown shares her favorite homemade rim mixture, a riff on Old Bay made with smoked paprika, granulated garlic, black pepper, celery seeds and dried thyme. She also loves using Cajun seasoning and common grilling seasonings, like McCormick’s Grill Mates Roasted Garlic and Herb.
New wave garnishes require only a little more work. Brown devotes an entire chapter to towering toppers, which are spearing some pretty meaty accompaniments these days. Her Gazpacho Mary, for example, keeps the Spanish theme going with skewers that alternate pitted Spanish olives and chorizo, while her crisp, pickled dilly beans go with just about any bloody mary.
For those seeking a carnivore fix, Brown points to beef jerky and promises that making your own is not difficult. Her do-it-yourself jerky recipe starts with top round, bottom round or flank steak marinated in 12 ingredients, including apple juice, balsamic vinegar and liquid smoke. It’s dried in a warm oven for about six hours to finish.
And then, of course, there’s always crisp bacon. Anthony Castillo’s Bloody Hail Mary is an ode to the rasher. Castillo, the bar manager at Emeryville’s Honor Kitchen & Cocktails, uses a bacon-washed vodka in the cocktail, then rims the glass with house-made bacon salt. The cocktail garnish includes a slice of bacon, in addition to the classic trio: a cornichon, pickled pearl onion and olive.
For a classic rim, like the one on Honor Kitchen & Cocktail’s House Bloody Mary, made with a vodka infused with three different peppers, Castillo suggests using celery seed and adding salt to taste. “It turns out less salty than celery salt and gives you the dryness you want before your first sip,” he says.
Michelle DeSpain’s Asian Bloody Mary is such a bold reinvention of the classic cocktail that it won the bloody mary contest at the Heirloom Tomato Harvest Celebration hosted in September by the Los Gatos-based World Tomato Society. DeSpain, the bar manager at Willow Street Pizza, currently offers the cocktail as a weekend special.
She garnishes the tamari-wasabi-Sriracha-spiked cocktail with a simple skewer of pickled and fresh cucumber slices with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds on top. Her rim? Togarashi, the Japanese seasoning made with red chili pepper, orange peel, sesame seeds, ginger and seaweed.
“The rim and garnish just really bring the Asian flavors and spices together,” DeSpain says.
Asian Bloody Mary
Serves 4 to 6
INGREDIENTS
3 cans (8 ounces each) of V8 or tomato juice
1 to 2 tablespoons wasabi paste 3 tablespoons tamari 3 tablespoons Sriracha sauce 3 tablespoons each of fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice 2 tablespoons ginger juice (or 2 inches of grated fresh ginger) 2 tablespoons fish sauce Several turns of fresh ground black pepper
Rim: Togarashi
Garnishes: Pickled and fresh cucumber slices, black sesame seeds
DIRECTIONS
Rim glasses with togarashi and fill with ice.
In a pitcher, combine the tomato juice, wasabi, tamari, Sriracha, citrus juices, ginger, fish sauce and pepper, stirring to blend well.
For each drink, combine 1½ ounces of vodka and 10 ounces of tomato mix in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into glass, garnish with pickled and regular cucumber slices, sprinkle with black sesame seeds and serve.