Ways to Spice Up Your Bloody Mary
November 8, 2019
Not long ago, you had just a few options when you ordered a beer in a bar or restaurant. Today, many establishments serve micro-brews, pilsners, ales, stouts and more. In some cases, an eatery’s beer list might be longer than its wine list!
While you may have plenty of beer varieties to choose from these days, one thing has stayed the same — the Bloody Mary. Unlike beer, a Bloody Mary is often made using a tried and true recipe that probably resembles our standard Bloody Mary recipe. Of course, there’s a reason for that — Bloody Marys are as great as they’ve always been.
No matter how much you love a conventional Bloody Mary, don’t avoid different variants of the ever-popular beverage. Rather than snub a new twist on a Bloody Mary, give it a try. Who knows? You may like the drink even more if it’s spiced up a bit.
Add a Hint of Flavor: Creative Seasoning
Too often, bartenders think spicing up a Bloody Mary means adding more horseradish or Tabasco sauce to give the drink an extra kick. Even if you want more heat, simply increasing a few of the ingredients in our Bloody Mary recipe won’t cut it. The ingredients should be used proportionately to maintain the drink’s ever-pleasing balance of flavors.
If you want more heat, consider adding some Frank’s RedHot Sauce, Louisiana Hot Sauce or Sriracha Sauce to your Bloody Mary. Or you can swap your regular Tabasco sauce for the even hotter Tabasco Scorpion Pepper Sauce. Whereas the red peppers used to make regular Tabasco sauce pack around 50,000 Scoville Units, just one scorpion pepper has about two million. Be ready for a big surprise if you use the scorpion pepper sauce.
Some home mixologists may want to go in a different direction with their Bloody Mary. If that idea appeals to you, here are a few things to try in your next batch:
- Old Bay Seasoning
- Paprika
- Pickle juice
- Olive juice
- Celery bitters
- Soy sauce
Want to try a recipe that has both heat and an added twist? Give our Spicy Carmen Maria recipe a whirl. Believe us — you’ll never settle for the same old Bloody Mary ever again once you try this spicy Bloody Mary.
Knock Out the Garnish: Protein Is In
You don’t have to be a Bloody Mary aficionado to know that a Bloody Mary has some traditional garnishes — celery, green olives, a lemon or lime wedge and a pearl onion or two. But things have changed in recent years. Bloody Marys garnished with a protein are now a common sight in bars across the nation.
If you stop someone on the street, they’ll likely agree that everything is better with bacon. That’s certainly the case when it comes to Bloody Marys. Bacon is a great protein garnish for a Bloody Mary, especially when the beverage is made with bacon-flavored vodka. If you’re going to garnish a homemade Bloody Mary with bacon, use a thick cut variety that isn’t pre-cooked.
Bacon isn’t the only protein you can try as a garnish. Cooked medium-sized shrimp, hardboiled eggs, cheese wedges, thinly cut steak strips and oysters are some other proteins to experiment with as a Bloody Mary garnish.
Don’t be shy about mixing and matching your protein garnishes. Steak and cheese will pair well together as will bacon and shrimp or hardboiled eggs.
At-home mixologists have yet another protein garnish to try — Benny’s Original Meat Straws! Packed with plenty of flavor and energy-boosting protein, Benny’s Original Meat Straws are an ideal pairing for a regular Bloody Mary, a spicy Bloody Mary and every Bloody Mary in between. Order some now!