I really enjoy a good Bloody Mary. For me, that means a tall glass with lots of spicy tomato juice with Old Bay seasoning and a healthy celery stalk. But when I order one it’s a crap-shoot as to whether I’ll get my heart’s desire or a watery tumbler with less personality than a vodka tonic.
Is there some variant of the Bloody Mary that I should order to get more consistent results? Why isn’t there more consistency in the preparation of this drink?
Sure. Order a Caesar.
Moved to CS.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
I’d say because when you order them out, you’re either getting a pour out of a big batch that could be a good one or bad, depending on who made it, OR, the bar/restaurant lets each individual bartender make them from scratch…talk about variety!!!
If you aren’t looking for alot of ingredients in your Bloody, I wonder if you could order it just as you like it??? Course, that’s much easier in a slow bar when you’re talking directly to the bartender, who, preferably, either knows you, likes you, or is just really into pleasing individual customers.
I adore a good BM 
but for the life of me, I can’t make one at home. I use salt, pepper, horseradish and worcester (sp?) and celery salt, but they always taste like – well, like BM.
Anyone care to share the secret?
The fourth one is always perfect!
starting with a good mix is a great start. Zing Zang is absolutely terrific. I don’t know if you’ll get it up north though.
I love a good bloody mary. But a lot of times when I get one it’s v8 and vodka. Bartenders of the world please hear me that is not how you make a BM!
That is all
Oh and when ever I order one I always ask for a shot of the mix. They almost always agree (better to waste a shot if I send it back than a whole glass) and it gives me a chance to see if I’m gona drink it.
(I’m sorry for spelling and mistakes in this post I’m writing this on my blackberry while driving down I-80 at 60 miles per hour. Bad t-mobileguy, bad!)
The best bloody mary I ever had was at Froggie’s Bar in Daytona Beach, Florida. They put salt, pepper, worcestershire, horseradish, plain tomato juice, hot sauce, sliced dill pickles, olives, and celery! Awesome. The best part was fishing out the “salad.”
I love salad for breakfast! 
I’m a big fan of the Major Peters brand of Bloody Mary mix. In looking to see if it’s available in Washington though I found several other recommendations for the aforementioned Zing Zang and the Bloody Caesar style as well.
My preference is Clamato, but if can’t get my hands on that, V-8 is next, spicy is nice, and Tomato Juice would be my last choice.
I really hate the super thick Bloodies that some bars make…ick, like soup 
So…when I order one out, I always ask them to put a shot of sours mix into it…believe it or not, it gives a lemony sweetness that makes a great Bloody! Plus, for me, it thins out the tomato juice nicely.
So, I try to keep some of that at home, small premixed bottle from our local grocery store here.
I put in quite a heavy shot of vodka in each drink, celery salt, pepper, tabasco or other hot sauce, worcestershire, about a jigger of sours mix, then fill up w/ the tomato juice or whatever.
I personally don’t like horseradish much in these drinks, since it’s yet another contribution to thickness, even though I LOVE horseradish itself, but perhaps others will?
The Bloody Mary is a crazy drink.
Clam juice/no clam juice.
Tomato juice/mix/v8
tabasco/no tobasco
worcestershire/no worcestershire
pepper/salt/black cardomom/whatever
About the only things two BM’s have in common is vodka and celery.
With BM’s you either need to make it yourself, or find a bar whose BM’s you like.
Too true…in the past, I’ve gotten as many badly prepared Bloodies as Martini’s!!!
Oh, one time, the 'tender put so much A-1 (hello?) into the glass that the whole drink was brown…it was…undrinkable. bleh.
I find I’m usually safe w/ beer. 
IMO you can’t make a good bloody Mary with a mix. It has to be tomato juice. I also pour some of the pickle/olive/whatever juice in the mix and do not use horseradish. Also, if you have a good stout beer like Murphy’s or Guinness pour a bit of that in at the end and serve the rest of the beer as a chaser.
Try adding a splash of dry sherry to the mix. I don’t drink bloodies, but when I was a bartender I did that (and grated in fresh horseradish myself if I was working Sunday lunchtimes) and my customers seemed to really like it.
Well, I think folks here have demonstrated the answer to that pretty clearly. Everyone seems to have differences of opinion as to what makes a Proper Bloody Mary. There’s a place her in town called the Newsroom that takes a novel approach. During Sunday brunch they have a Bloody Mary bar. Your Gromit brings you a glass with ice and vodka, and the rest of the ingredients are yours to tailor-make.
Now that sounds like my kind of place!
My Wife’s Favorite Bloody Mary
In a pint beer glass, put ice, 2.5 oz martini vodka. Add 4 squirts Tabasco, 3 squirts Worchestershire, 1 dollop horseradish, 1 squeeze lime juice, seasoning salt and freshly ground pepper. Fill glass with V8 juice. Stir and enjoy.
I’m confused by some of the recepies here that don’t mention horseradish. Isn’t this a thread about bloody marys?
I actually had never heard of horseradish in a bloody before my trip to Daytona Beach! Excellent.