Bloody Mary
The Bloody Mary is the only drink in the official canon whose recipe ends with an instruction rather than a measure. Vodka, tomato juice and lemon are fixed; the Worcestershire, Tabasco, celery salt and pepper are added to taste, and that is not vagueness. Seasoning tolerance varies more between people than almost anything else behind a bar, and a Bloody Mary built to somebody else's palate is a drink they will leave. Fernand Petiot claimed it at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in the 1920s and refined it at the St. Regis in New York, where it was renamed the Red Snapper because the management found the original name unsuitable. The gin version still carries that name and is a genuinely good drink. What separates a good one from the brunch cliché is treating it as a cocktail rather than a soup: measured, balanced, seasoned deliberately, and built rather than blended into submission.
Glassware: Rocks Glass
Garnish: a celery stick, stood in the glass and Lemon Wedge on the rim, optional
Ingredients
45ml
Neutral by design, which is why the seasoning carries the drink. A clean vodka is all this needs; anything characterful is wasted under tomato juice and Worcestershire, and a rough one will show through as heat rather than flavour.
90ml
Half the glass, and the ingredient worth spending on. A good juice is thick and savoury where a cheap one is thin, sweet and faintly cooked. Chill it hard: warm juice over ice dilutes fast and the drink never recovers from it.
15ml
Squeezed to order, and the only acid in the build besides the vinegar in the Tabasco. It lifts the tomato and stops the whole glass reading as heavy, and bottled juice tastes immediately of the bottle in a drink this savoury.
2 dashes
Anchovy, tamarind and vinegar, and the source of most of the savoury depth people cannot name when they taste a good one. Two dashes is the official measure and it is enough; a heavy hand turns the drink muddy and faintly fishy.
To taste
Around three dashes is a reasonable start. The heat is only half of what it contributes: the vinegar sharpness cuts the body of the tomato juice, which is why a sweeter chilli sauce makes a worse substitute than its heat level suggests.
To taste
A good pinch, stirred through rather than sprinkled on top. It brings a savoury vegetal note the tomato cannot produce alone, and it is the seasoning whose absence is most obvious once you have tasted a version with it.
To taste
Freshly ground, a few turns. Pre-ground pepper has lost most of its aromatic oils and contributes dust rather than bite, which matters in a drink where every other seasoning is pulling in a savoury direction.
Instructions
Squeeze the lemon juice immediately before building the drink.
Add the vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, celery salt and pepper to a mixing glass with ice.
Stir gently until combined and thoroughly chilled — do not shake.
Strain into a rocks glass, or into an ice-filled highball if serving long.
Garnish with a celery stick and a lemon wedge, and serve immediately.
Source: the IBA (Official IBA specification). Last checked 13 August 2026.
Expert Tip
Season it, then taste it, then season it again. This is the only drink in the official canon that ends with an instruction rather than a measure, and that is deliberate: heat and salt tolerance vary more between people than any other preference. Two dashes of Worcestershire, three of Tabasco, a good pinch of celery salt and a few turns of pepper is a starting point rather than a recipe. Stir, never shake. Tomato juice is a suspension rather than a solution, and shaking breaks it: the drink turns pale and frothy and separates in the glass within a minute. If you need to mix thoroughly, roll it between two tins instead. Add the seasoning before the ice so it disperses through the build rather than sitting on top of a cold drink refusing to dissolve.
Flavour Profile
Seasoning Is the Recipe
Every fixed measure in this drink is a base for the part that is not fixed.
Vodka, tomato juice and lemon give you a sound, dull foundation. The Worcestershire brings umami and a fermented tang, the Tabasco brings vinegar sharpness as much as heat, the celery salt brings a savoury vegetal note the tomato cannot supply on its own, and the black pepper brings aromatic bite. Take any of them out and the drink flattens noticeably. Add them without tasting and it goes over a cliff.
Two dashes of Worcestershire, three of Tabasco, a good pinch of celery salt and a few turns of pepper is a reasonable place to begin. Taste it in the glass before it goes to the table.
Stir, Never Shake
The official specification says to stir gently, and it is the most frequently ignored instruction in the drink.
Tomato juice is a suspension rather than a solution: solids held in liquid. Shaking aerates it, breaks the suspension and produces a pale, frothy, slightly foamy drink that separates in the glass within a minute and tastes thinner than it should. Stirring keeps the body intact and the colour deep. Where a bar wants to combine without agitating, the traditional answer is rolling — pouring the drink between two tins a few times, which mixes thoroughly without whipping air into it.
If your Bloody Mary comes out pink and frothy, that is why.
The Tomato Juice
Ninety millilitres is half the drink, and it is the ingredient people spend the least thought on.
Quality varies enormously. The cheapest tomato juices are thin, sweet and slightly cooked-tasting; a good one is thicker, more savoury and genuinely of tomato. Since it is doing more of the work than the vodka, buying well here changes the drink more than upgrading the spirit does. Chill it properly, because a warm tomato juice hitting ice dilutes fast and never recovers.
Some bars use passata or fresh-pressed tomato, which makes a considerably better drink and a considerably slower service.
The Family
Swap the base spirit and the drink changes name rather than character.
Gin gives a Red Snapper, which is Petiot's own St. Regis version and arguably the better drink: the botanicals meet the celery salt and the pepper in a way vodka's neutrality cannot. Tequila gives a Bloody Maria, mezcal gives a smoky one, and aquavit gives a Danish Mary where caraway does something genuinely interesting with the tomato. Beer poured over the top makes it a Michelada in the loosest sense.
The seasoning stays constant across all of them. It is the part that makes the drink.
The garnish has drifted a long way from the celery stick and lemon wedge the specification lists. A Bloody Mary carrying a burger, a slider and half a rasher of bacon is a photograph rather than a drink, and it usually arrives on top of a badly made one. If the liquid is right it needs nothing beyond something to stir with and something to squeeze.
The Spirit
Tomato JuiceA savoury vegetable juice made from tomatoes, used primarily in savoury cocktails. Provides body, umami, and acidity rather than sweetness.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Bloody Mary?
Vodka, tomato juice and lemon seasoned with Worcestershire, Tabasco, celery salt and pepper. The official specification fixes the first three at 45ml, 90ml and 15ml and leaves the seasoning to taste, which is the part that actually makes the drink.
Why should you never shake a Bloody Mary?
Tomato juice is a suspension of solids rather than a solution. Shaking aerates it and breaks that suspension, producing a pale, frothy drink that separates within a minute. Stir gently, or roll it between two tins if it needs more mixing.
How much Tabasco goes in a Bloody Mary?
To taste, which is why the specification gives no measure. Three dashes is a reasonable starting point. Add it before the ice so it disperses, then taste and adjust — building someone else’s heat level is the surest way to leave a drink unfinished.
What is a Red Snapper?
A Bloody Mary made with gin instead of vodka, and Fernand Petiot’s own version at the St. Regis in New York. The management thought the original name unsuitable, so the gin build took the new one. Many people prefer it: the botanicals meet the seasoning.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits
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