I’ve worked a lot of restaurants, and have had some damn fine bloody marys from them. The ones that were the best always had their own mix, but it wasn’t really liquid. It was a brown paste added to whatever else, and it had most of the spices in it. I am just not sure exactly what would be IN there to get it to a paste form.
My thinking is ground spices as desired, mixed with just enough worcestshire to make it pasty.
Does that sound good to anyone else, or is there a secret bar mix I’m unaware of? (I’ve worked a lot of restaurants and bars, but never fully bartended myself)
Just wondering, 'cause I’d like to experiment with my own, and am just checking if the paste thing sounds familiar to anyone else.
'cause boy, do I love experimenting with bloody marys!!
I bartended for a long time and I’ve never heard of it. My recipe for bloody marys has always been vodka, V8 juice, celery salt, ground black pepper, horseradish, squeeze of lime, worcestershire and a dollop of hot sauce if the customer wants it fiery. Celery stalk available upon request!
I tended bar for a couple of years in my college days, and I’ve never seen a paste.
FWIW - My favorite Bloody Mary mix is Zing Zang, but if you there’s one thing them Canadians do right, it’s the Bloody Caesar. If you have one of them, you’ll never go back to Bloody Marys. TRUST me.
Another great Bloody Mary mix to use, if the ones Shark Sandwich pointed out don’t work for you, is Major Peters. Thick and spicy, it’s the best I’ve ever had. And I’m a Bloody Mary freak.
When restaurants use powdered and bottled mixes for drinks it’s because they’re quick and easy, not because they’re good. The paste described by the OP may have been the restaurant’s own base, made from fresh ingredients earlier in the day, not the kind of stuff sold in supermarkets. You can certainly do better than those for yourself at home.
I usually use tomato juice (not V8), fresh-squeezed lemon juice, fresh-ground black pepper, whole celery seed, Worcestershire, arbol and pequin pepper sauce. It helps to use a real shaker and strainer.
My last experiments concluded with,
And a squeeze of lime over the top of the full assembly.
The provolone was unnecessary and didn’t add much, but the rest of it was really great. I didn’t use horseradish that time, but if I can pick up a fresh root I’ll grate some next time.
