Spicy Bloody Mary Recipe

The bloody mary, for some reason, is one of the few cocktails that is socially acceptable to drink before the sun is over the yardarm (whatever that is). Perhaps, this is because it's got tomato juice in it, and thus is perceived as being somewhat healthy? It could also be that, when these drinks are served in bars, they are sometimes garnished with what almost amounts to an entire meal's worth of vegetables, meats, and cheeses. 

"This spicy bloody mary," says recipe developer Christina Musgrave, "is a perfect way to start a weekend." If you've got places to go, and don't want to kick things off with too much day drinking, you can still enjoy the beverage Musgrave calls "spicy and so refreshing." Unlike more spirit-forward cocktails, the bloody mary tastes just as good if you reduce the booze for a very on-trend low-ABV version, or omit it entirely to make the popular mocktail known as a virgin mary.

To make the drink, you'll be using vodka and tomato juice seasoned with celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, hot sauce, and a sliced jalapeño. As for what hot sauce to use, Tabasco is always a popular choice, although here Musgrave says "I used Frank's [Red Hot sauce] because it's what I had on hand." She does say, however, that "You can use any type of hot sauce in this recipe," so yes — Cholula, sriracha, or super-hot ghost pepper sauce will all work.

As an added touch, Musgrave also likes to rim the glass. To do so, you'll use some fresh lime, and coarse salt.

Slice a lime into wedges, then take 1 small wedge, and make a small cut into the fruit. Run the cut part around the rim of a tall glass, squeezing just a bit to make sure the rim is moistened with juice. Pour a generous amount of salt onto a plate, and dip or roll the moistened rim in the salt.

Once the glass is salt-rimmed, add the vodka, tomato juice, celery salt, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, hot sauce, and sliced jalapeño to the glass. Stir the drink, then drop in a few ice cubes. That's it, you're all done!

Although the bloody mary pictured here is a no-frills version, if you'd like to dress yours up a bit, Musgrave suggests that "Lime wedges, celery, or a small jalapeño would be great garnishes." If you want to go all-out, though, you need not stop there. Dill pickle spears, bacon, cheese cubes, chicken wings, cooked shrimp, and even cheeseburgers are some of the things that bars have used to garnish their bloody marys, so feel free to follow suit.