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No. 39AmericanDrink

Bloody Mary

A good extra hit of Tabasco — that is what makes it.

John Drummond

A tall glass of Bloody Mary over ice with a leafy celery stick and a curl of lemon peel, on a dark stone bench, half a lemon beside it
Prep15min
Cook10min
All up25min
Serves2
LevelEasy

Mise en place

What you need

Tick each one off as it goes in.

Bloody Mary

Virgin Mary, next level

To serve

Breakfast Virgin, nothing to chop

Makes 2 serves

One of my favourite cocktails, and I always build it on Campbell’s V8 rather than plain tomato juice. That’s my secret ingredient: the carrot, celery and beetroot in it make a rounder, more savoury drink. And it always gets a good extra hit of Tabasco. That is what makes it.

Three versions here. The Bloody Mary, with vodka. A Virgin Mary that’s next level, and doesn’t taste like a Bloody Mary with something missing. And a quick breakfast one with nothing to cut.

The Virgin works because it puts back what the vodka was doing. Fresh cucumber juice gives the length and a clean, green top note, and a splash of weak black tea gives the dry finish. You shouldn’t be able to taste either; if you can taste tea, it’s too strong.

This was put through a three-way blind review (Claude, Grok and Codex) in October 2026 and hasn’t been made in this exact form yet. Tabasco is measured in teaspoons, not dashes: a dash is a drop, and “twelve dashes” is barely a millilitre. Start at the amount here and keep going until it bites.

Shake the V8 bottle first; the solids settle. It is already salted, so nothing else gets salt until you’ve tasted it. Horseradish means the plain vinegar-packed jar, not horseradish cream and not the red beetroot kind, and it goes in last. Worcestershire contains anchovy, and V8 contains celery. The two virgins are made without alcoholic ingredients.

The method

Eight moves.

  1. Glasses, Chill

    Two tall glasses, 400–450 ml, into the freezer. Everything else stays in the fridge until you use it.

  2. Tea, Brew

    Virgin only. One tea bag in 200 ml just-boiled water for exactly 2 minutes. Lift it out; don’t squeeze it. Chill it fast over ice and measure 40 ml. The rest is yours to drink.

  3. Cucumber, Press

    Virgin only. Grate the cucumber, skin on, and press it through a sieve. Measure 50 ml. Don’t top it up with water.

  4. Mix, Build

    Into a jug go the V8, the lemon juice, the Worcestershire, the Tabasco and the pepper. For the Bloody Mary, add the vodka. For the Virgin, add the 40 ml of tea, the 50 ml of cucumber juice, the pickle brine and the celery seed. Stir and taste. More Tabasco if the finish is polite. For the Virgin, 5 ml more brine only if it tastes flat and not salty.

  5. Horseradish, Last

    Stir in the horseradish and taste again. The Tabasco should still be the heat you notice. Celery salt only now, and only if it tastes flat.

  6. Roll, Pour

    Don’t shake it: shaking turns V8 to foam. Divide the mix between two tins. Roll each one between two tins six times over about 60 g of ice. Strain onto fresh ice in the cold glasses.

  7. Garnish, Serve

    A celery stick in each. Twist a strip of lemon peel over the top and drop it in. A lemon wedge on the side, for anyone who wants it sharper. Drink it straight away; it doesn’t wait.

  8. Breakfast, Quick

    Ice in a glass, then the V8, bottled lemon, Worcestershire, Tabasco, horseradish, celery salt and pepper. Stir hard for 15 seconds and drink. Nothing to chop, nothing to wash but the spoon.

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Bloody Maryserves 2 · 25 min