Highball · 1920s
Bloody Mary
The only classic that is really a bowl of soup with vodka in it, and the better for it.
Specification
| Vodka | 50 ml |
| Tomato juice | 100 ml |
| Fresh lemon juice | 15 ml |
| Worcestershire sauce | 3 dashes |
| Hot sauce | 2 dashes |
| Celery salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- 01Build everything in a mixing glass and season aggressively.
- 02Roll it between two tins rather than shaking — you want it cold, not aerated.
- 03Pour into an ice-filled highball glass.
- 04Garnish with celery, a lemon wedge, or whatever you can justify.
Where it comes from
Fernand Petiot claimed to have mixed the first at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in the 1920s, before refining it at the St. Regis in New York. The spice came later, because the original was tomato juice and vodka and very little else.
If you change one thing: Roll it, do not shake it. Shaking aerates tomato juice into a pale froth and ruins the texture that carries the seasoning.