Beverages & Drink Culture Codexery

Bloody Mary (cocktail)

A vodka and tomato juice cocktail with disputed origins and many variations.

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The Bloody Mary is a cocktail containing vodka, tomato juice, and various spices and flavorings such as Worcestershire sauce, hot sauces, garlic, herbs, horseradish, celery, olives, pickled vegetables, salt, black pepper, lemon juice, lime juice, and celery salt. It is typically consumed in the morning or early afternoon in the United States and is popular as a hangover cure. The drink was invented in the 1920s or 1930s, with multiple disputed origin stories.

Background

The Bloody Mary's invention is claimed by multiple parties. reference crediting Jessel with a recipe of half tomato juice, half vodka. Regis Hotel, adding salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice.

The name's origin is also disputed: some link it to actress Mary Pickford, others to a waitress named Mary at a Chicago bar called the Bucket of Blood. Harry's New York Bar tradition holds that a patron said the drink resembled his girlfriend Mary, whom he met at a cabaret named the Bucket of Blood. Another theory suggests the name arose from mispronouncing 'Vladimir,' possibly referencing Vladimir Smirnov of the Smirnoff vodka family.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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